# McRae (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mcrae/  
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) | 18,156 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,987 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 17,005 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.5% (17,203 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Raith (“son of grace”), from mac + rath. Compare the Irish form McGrath.

## Who carries it

Share of people named McRae 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) | 53% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 41% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McRae in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

## People named McRae

- Carmen McRae, American jazz musician and actress (1922-1994)
- Frank McRae, American actor (1944–2021)
- Jordan McRae, American basketball player (born 1991)
- James McRae, Australian rower
- Shane McRae, American actor
- Lee McRae, American sprinter
- John J. McRae, American politician (1815-1868)
- Hilton McRae, British actor
- Mo McRae, American actor
- Conrad McRae, American basketball player (1971-2000)
- Chann McRae, American racing cyclist
- Khaleb McRae, American sprinter

and 1 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Macrae, McRee, McRay, McCray, McGraw, McGrew, McCrea, McCraw, McCree, McCrae, McGuire, Moser.

## 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.