How common is the surname McLeod?

30,769 people in the United States had the surname McLeod in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,034 Americans. It ranked 1,141st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named McLeod?

Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and civil rights leader (1875-1955), followed by Norman Z. McLeod.

Where is the surname McLeod most common?

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

How do you pronounce McLeod?

McLeod is /məˈklaʊd/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname McLeod getting more or less common?

More common. 29,423 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 30,769 in 2010, up 4.6%.

The surname McLeod

A Scottish Gaelic patronymic surname, carried by 30,769 people in the United States.

Pronounced /məˈklaʊd/ 2 syllables Soundex M243

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McLeod is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

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.

McLeod 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 30,769 people named McLeod in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,034 Americans. That is up 4.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 29,423.

#1,141

rank among US surnames

30,769

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+4.6%

change since 2000 (was #1,088)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,132	Lange	30,984	9,965
#1,133	Shoemaker	30,934	9,981
#1,134	Flanagan	30,887	9,996
#1,135	Bruno	30,883	9,997
#1,136	Segura	30,880	9,998
#1,137	Beach	30,867	10,002
#1,138	Castellanos	30,859	10,005

Who is named McLeod

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

70% of people named McLeod identified as white (not Hispanic), 24% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 70%
Black (not Hispanic) 24%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 2.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous McLeods

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Mary McLeod Bethune
American educator and civil rights leader (1875-1955)
Norman Z. McLeod
American film director (1898–1964)
Mike McLeod
British distance runner, born 1952
Gloria Negrete McLeod
American politician, born 1941
Keith McLeod
American basketball player (born 1979)
Roshown McLeod
American basketball player-coach, born 1975
Cooper McLeod
American speed skater, born 2001
Thomas Gordon McLeod
American politician (1868–1932)
Alice Coltrane
American jazz musician, 1937–2007
Scott McCloud
American cartoonist and comics theorist (b. 1960)

Notable McLeods come mostly from the United States (9) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like McLeod

McLeod has the Soundex code M243, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M243.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname McLeod come from?: 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.
How common is the surname McLeod?: 30,769 people in the United States had the surname McLeod in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,034 Americans. It ranked 1,141st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname McLeod?: In the 2010 Census, 70% of people named McLeod identified as white (not Hispanic), and 24% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named McLeod?: Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and civil rights leader (1875-1955), followed by Norman Z. McLeod.
Where is the surname McLeod most common?: Wikidata records people named McLeod in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce McLeod?: McLeod is /məˈklaʊd/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is McLeod?: McLeod is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname McLeod getting more or less common?: More common. 29,423 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 30,769 in 2010, up 4.6%.