# McLeod (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcleod/  
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, the anglicised form of the Gaelic Mac Leòid

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 30,769 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,141 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 10,034 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.6% (29,423 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /məˈklaʊd/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Scottish Gaelic MacLeòid (“son of Leòd”), from Old Norse Liótr (“the Ugly (one)”), from Old Norse ljótr (“ugly, scary”). The combination tool was created in 1905 by Malcolm McLeod, a US Forest Service ranger.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McLeod 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) | 70% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 24% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McLeod in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named McLeod

- Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and civil rights leader (1875-1955)
- Norman Z. McLeod, American film director (1898–1964)
- Mike McLeod, British distance runner
- Gloria Negrete McLeod, American politician
- Keith McLeod, American basketball player (born 1979)
- Roshown McLeod, American basketball player-coach
- Cooper McLeod, American speed skater
- Thomas Gordon McLeod, American politician (1868–1932)
- Alice Coltrane, American jazz musician
- Scott McCloud, American cartoonist and comics theorist (b. 1960)

## Similar surnames

Macleod, McLoud, McCloud, McGlothlin, McGoldrick, Musselwhite, McGlothin, McEldowney, McClatchey.

## 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.