# McAlpine (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,714 |
| US rank (2010) | 8,814 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 83,130 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (3,598 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Alphin |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish Mac Ailpín and Scottish Gaelic Mac Ailpein (“son of Ailpean”), a personal name derived from a diminutive of ailp (“lump; stout person”). Compare O'Halpin.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McAlpine 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) | 79% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 16% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McAlpine in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

## People named McAlpine

- Lizzy McAlpine, American singer-songwriter
- Donald McAlpine, Australian cinematographer
- Jennie McAlpine, British actress

## Similar surnames

McAlpin, McAuliffe, McCaleb, McIlvain, McIlvaine, McKelvey, McElveen, McElfresh, McKillip, McKelvy, McGillivray, McKillop.

## 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.