# McNaughton (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcnaughton/  
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) | 4,287 |
| US rank (2010) | 7,744 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 72,019 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.3% (4,110 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, Anglicized form of Mac Neachtain, a patronymic surname from the personal name Neachtan, a name of the god of water in Irish mythology, of uncertain ultimate origin; see Nechtan. Compare McCracken.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McNaughton 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) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McNaughton in Canada and the United States.

## People named McNaughton

- Duncan McNaughton, athletics competitor (1910-1998)
- John McNaughton, American film and television director

## Similar surnames

McKnight, McNaught, McKenzie, McGinnis, Mackenzie, Magnuson, McInnis, McMichael, McMaster, Messenger, Mickens, McComas.

## 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.