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    The surname McNeill

    A Scottish Gaelic patronymic surname, carried by 19,152 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex M254

    McNeill: #1,875 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon McNeill #1,875, 19,152 people McNeill: #1,875 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez McNeill #1,875, 19,152 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). McNeill is more common than 98.8% of them.

    Origin

    Scottish Gaelic origin

    From Scottish Gaelic Mac (“son of”) + Niall (“possibly "the champion”).

    McNeill 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 19,152 people named McNeill in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 16,121 Americans. That is up 4.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 18,272.

    #1,875
    rank among US surnames
    19,152
    people in 2010
    6.5
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.8%
    change since 2000 (was #1,806)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #1,866Engle19,22616,059
    #1,867Story19,21816,065
    #1,868Valentin19,21116,071
    #1,869Yost19,21016,072
    #1,870Langford19,20816,074
    #1,871Herndon19,18316,095
    #1,872Napier19,18216,096

    Who is named McNeill

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

    64% of people named McNeill identified as white (not Hispanic), 30% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 64%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 30%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
    • Two or more races 2.0%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 1.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous McNeills

    10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • James McNeill Whistler
      American painter (1834-1903)
    • Robert Duncan McNeill
      American actor and director, born 1964
    • Serayah McNeill
      American singer and actress, born 1995
    • Lee McNeill
      American track and field athlete (1964–2021)
    • John Robert McNeill
      American environmental historian, Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Ge, born 1954
    • John J. McNeill
      American theologian, 1925–2015
    • Jane McNeill
      American actress, born 1966
    • Bob McNeill
      American basketball player, born 1938
    • Kia McNeill
      American soccer player, born 1986
    • David McNeill
      Australian athlete, born 1986

    Notable McNeills come mostly from the United States (9) and Australia (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like McNeill

    McNeill has the Soundex code M254, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M254.

    Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

    All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname McNeill come from?
    From Scottish Gaelic Mac (“son of”) + Niall (“possibly "the champion”).
    How common is the surname McNeill?
    19,152 people in the United States had the surname McNeill in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 16,121 Americans. It ranked 1,875th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname McNeill?
    In the 2010 Census, 64% of people named McNeill identified as white (not Hispanic), and 30% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named McNeill?
    James McNeill Whistler, American painter (1834-1903), followed by Robert Duncan McNeill.
    Where is the surname McNeill most common?
    Wikidata records people named McNeill in the United States and Australia.
    What type of surname is McNeill?
    McNeill is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname McNeill getting more or less common?
    More common. 18,272 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 19,152 in 2010, up 4.8%.