Where does the surname McLean come from?

McLean is Scottish Gaelic in origin.

How common is the surname McLean?

43,260 people in the United States had the surname McLean in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,137 Americans. It ranked 801st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named McLean?

Don McLean, American singer-songwriter, followed by A. J. McLean.

Where is the surname McLean most common?

Wikidata records people named McLean in the United States, Australia and Austria.

How do you pronounce McLean?

McLean is /məˈkleɪn/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname McLean getting more or less common?

More common. 40,871 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 43,260 in 2010, up 5.8%.

The surname McLean

A Scottish Gaelic occupational surname, carried by 43,260 people in the United States.

Pronounced /məˈkleɪn/ 2 syllables Soundex M245

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McLean is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic, an anglicization of Mac Gille Eòin (“son of the servant of John”).

McLean is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

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 43,260 people named McLean in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,137 Americans. That is up 5.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 40,871.

#801

rank among US surnames

43,260

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+5.8%

change since 2000 (was #768)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#792	Durham	43,635	7,076
#793	Dorsey	43,631	7,076
#794	McCall	43,483	7,100
#795	O'Donnell	43,460	7,104
#796	Stein	43,389	7,116
#797	Browning	43,329	7,126
#798	Stout	43,305	7,130

Who is named McLean

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

67% of people named McLean identified as white (not Hispanic), 27% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 67%
Black (not Hispanic) 27%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 2.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous McLeans

17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Don McLean
American singer-songwriter, born 1945
A. J. McLean
American pop singer, born 1978
Malcom McLean
American businessman (1913-2001)
John McLean
American athlete and coach (1878-1955)
Jackie McLean
American jazz saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator (1931–2006)
Willie McLean
American soccer player, 1904–1977
John McLean
American jurist and politician (1785-1861)
Barbara McLean
American film editor (1903-1996)
Greg McLean
Australian film director, born 1953
Jamel McLean
American basketball player (born 1988)
Matt McLean
American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, born 1988
David McLean
American film and television actor (1922-1995)

Notable McLeans come mostly from the United States (15), Australia (1) and Austria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Maclean
Maclaine

Surnames that sound like McLean

McLean has the Soundex code M245, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M245.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname McLean come from?: McLean is Scottish Gaelic in origin.
How common is the surname McLean?: 43,260 people in the United States had the surname McLean in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,137 Americans. It ranked 801st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname McLean?: In the 2010 Census, 67% of people named McLean identified as white (not Hispanic), and 27% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named McLean?: Don McLean, American singer-songwriter, followed by A. J. McLean.
Where is the surname McLean most common?: Wikidata records people named McLean in the United States, Australia and Austria.
How do you pronounce McLean?: McLean is /məˈkleɪn/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is McLean?: McLean is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname McLean getting more or less common?: More common. 40,871 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 43,260 in 2010, up 5.8%.
What are other spellings of McLean?: Maclean and Maclaine.