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The surname McAllister

A Scottish Gaelic patronymic surname, carried by 29,544 people in the United States.

Pronounced /məˈkælɪstɚ/ 4 syllables Soundex M242

McAllister: #1,197 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon McAllister #1,197, 29,544 people McAllister: #1,197 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez McAllister #1,197, 29,544 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McAllister is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Alasdair (“son of Alexander”). By surface analysis, Mc- + Allister.

McAllister is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 29,544 people named McAllister in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,450 Americans. That is up 3.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 28,586.

#1,197
rank among US surnames
29,544
people in 2010
10
per 100,000 Americans
+3.4%
change since 2000 (was #1,122)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#1,188Dale29,75710,376
#1,189Camp29,75310,377
#1,190Connolly29,71010,392
#1,191Hewitt29,69410,398
#1,192Cramer29,69110,399
#1,193Goldberg29,60310,430
#1,194Morin29,59310,433

Who is named McAllister

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

78% of people named McAllister identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 78%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 16%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
  • Two or more races 2.1%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous McAllisters

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Mary McAllister
    American actress (1909-1991)
  • Paul McAllister
    Actor (1875-1955)
  • Vance McAllister
    American businessman and politician, born 1974
  • Lisa McAllister
    Actress, born 1980
  • Ward McAllister
    American socialite (1827–1895)

Notable McAllisters come mostly from the United States (4) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like McAllister

McAllister has the Soundex code M242, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M242.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname McAllister come from?
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Alasdair (“son of Alexander”). By surface analysis, Mc- + Allister.
How common is the surname McAllister?
29,544 people in the United States had the surname McAllister in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,450 Americans. It ranked 1,197th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname McAllister?
In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named McAllister identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named McAllister?
Mary McAllister, American actress (1909-1991), followed by Paul McAllister.
Where is the surname McAllister most common?
Wikidata records people named McAllister in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce McAllister?
McAllister is /məˈkælɪstɚ/, 4 syllables.
What type of surname is McAllister?
McAllister is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname McAllister getting more or less common?
More common. 28,586 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 29,544 in 2010, up 3.4%.