Skip to content
Name Lineage

    The surname McGill

    A Scottish Gaelic patronymic surname, carried by 27,330 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /məˈɡɪl/ 2 syllables Soundex M240

    McGill: #1,282 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon McGill #1,282, 27,330 people McGill: #1,282 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez McGill #1,282, 27,330 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McGill is more common than 99.2% of them.

    Origin

    Scottish Gaelic origin

    A Scottish and Irish surname from Scottish Gaelic. Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Ghoill "son of the stranger"

    McGill 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 27,330 people named McGill in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 11,297 Americans. That is up 3.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 26,354.

    #1,282
    rank among US surnames
    27,330
    people in 2010
    9.3
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3.7%
    change since 2000 (was #1,218)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #1,273Puckett27,62711,175
    #1,274Coronado27,62611,176
    #1,275Olvera27,55111,206
    #1,276Sykes27,54611,208
    #1,277Manuel27,52911,215
    #1,278Burks27,52311,218
    #1,279Chin27,48711,232

    Who is named McGill

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

    68% of people named McGill identified as white (not Hispanic), 27% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 68%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 27%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 2.4%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous McGills

    8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Bruce McGill
      American actor (born 1950)
    • Everett McGill
      American actor, born 1945
    • Bill McGill
      American basketball player (born 1939)
    • Tyler McGill
      American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, born 1987
    • Andrew Ryan McGill
      American politician (1840-1905)
    • George McGill
      American politician (1879-1963)
    • Barney McGill
      American cinematographer (1890–1942)
    • Anthony McGill
      American clarinetist, born 1979

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like McGill

    McGill has the Soundex code M240, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M240.

    Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

    All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname McGill come from?
    McGill is Scottish Gaelic in origin.
    How common is the surname McGill?
    27,330 people in the United States had the surname McGill in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,297 Americans. It ranked 1,282nd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname McGill?
    In the 2010 Census, 68% of people named McGill identified as white (not Hispanic), and 27% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named McGill?
    Bruce McGill, American actor (born 1950), followed by Everett McGill.
    Where is the surname McGill most common?
    Wikidata records people named McGill in the United States.
    How do you pronounce McGill?
    McGill is /məˈɡɪl/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is McGill?
    McGill is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname McGill getting more or less common?
    More common. 26,354 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,330 in 2010, up 3.7%.