# Maclean (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/maclean/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,504 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,726 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 41,144 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.3% (7,127 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Mclean, Malean, Lean, Mcclean, Macclean, Clean |

## Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic MacGilleEathain, patronymic form of a personal name meaning "servant of (Saint) John".

## Who carries it

Share of people named Maclean in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Maclean in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.

## People named Maclean

- Donald Maclean, British diplomat and spy (1913–1983)
- Craig MacLean, British cyclist
- Paul D. MacLean, American neuroscientist (1913–2007)
- Katherine MacLean, American science fiction author (1925-2019)
- Norman Maclean, American author and scholar (1902–1990)
- Don MacLean, American basketball player (born 1970)
- Bryan MacLean, American musician (1946–1998)
- Douglas MacLean, American actor (1890–1967)
- Rachel Maclean, British Conservative politician

## Similar surnames

McLean, Macklin, McLane, Maclin, McClain, McClean, McElwain, McLennan, Maclennan, McClane, McWilliams, McCollum.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.