# McNeil (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcneil/  
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) | 34,368 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,018 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,984 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.4% (33,239 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Néill (“son of Níall”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named McNeil 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) | 52% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 42% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McNeil in the United States and Australia.

## People named McNeil

- Lori McNeil, American tennis player
- Claudia McNeil, American actress (1917-1993)
- Kate McNeil, American actress
- Loretta McNeil, athletics competitor (1907–1988)
- Catherine McNeil, Australian model (1989-)
- Legs McNeil, American writer
- Jeff McNeil, American baseball player (born 1992)

## Similar surnames

McKinley, McNeal, McNeill, McNally, McNeely, MacNeil, McNiel, McNealy, McNeilly, Macneill, McNelly, McNeeley.

## 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.