# McPherson (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcpherson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 36,125 |
| US rank (2010) | 965 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,547 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.9% (34,763 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /məkˈfɜː(ɹ)sən/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Ferson, Pherson |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac a' Phearsain (“son of the parson”), from pearsan (“parson”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named McPherson 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) | 73% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 21% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McPherson in the United States.

## People named McPherson

- Patricia McPherson, American actress
- Paige McPherson, American taekwondo practitioner
- James Alan McPherson, American short story writer and essayist (1943–2016)
- Charles McPherson, American jazz alto saxophonist (born 1939)
- James M. McPherson, American historian (born 1936)
- John R. McPherson, American politician (1833-1897)
- Inika McPherson, American high jumper
- Lisa McPherson, American Scientologist (1959–1995)
- Tara McPherson, American artist
- Paul McPherson, American basketball player (born 1978)

## Similar surnames

Macpherson, McBride, McFarland, McGovern, McFarlane, McCaffrey, McKeever, Mashburn, McIver, McCafferty, Macfarlane, McBroom.

## 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.