Macdonald

Macdonald Meaning & Origin

About Macdonald
The surname Macdonald is of Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic name "Mac Dhomhnaill," meaning "son of Donald." It is a patronymic surname, indicating descent from a person named Donald. The name Donald itself is derived from the Gaelic elements "dubh," meaning "dark," and "val," meaning "ruler" or "world." Macdonald is a common surname in Scotland and is associated with the powerful Clan Donald, which played a significant role in Scottish history.

🌍 Origin
📏 Surname Length
💬 Number of Syllables
🔠 Starting Letter

Popularity

Surname Popularity by Ethnicity

The surname Macdonald features prominently in our database, being among the top 1000 surnames. Explore its detailed popularity metrics and distribution:

  • Number of People with the name Macdonald: 46,717
  • Overall Popularity: 0.02%
  • Ranking: 744
  • Frequency per 100k people: 15.84

Below is the ethnic distribution of the surname Macdonald based on recent US Census records. This is a brief glimpse into the diverse backgrounds of people carrying this surname.

Ranking information for the surname Macdonald is not currently available.

Pronunciation

📇 Metaphone
MKTNLT
🗽 NYSIIS
MNA
🔊 Soundex
M02305043
🎵 Syllabic Pronunciation
M AH0 K D AA1 N AH0 L D
🌐 IPA
/məkˈdɑnəld/
🔊 Double Metaphone
('MKTNLT', '')
🈯 Cross-Lingual Phonetic
M235

Accessibility & Communication

How to write the name Macdonald in Braille

Here's how to represent Macdonald in Braille, each pattern of raised dots corresponds to a letter in the name.

The name Macdonald in braille

How to sign the name Macdonald using Sign Language

The image below shows how you can spell Macdonald using American Sign Language (ASL). In sign language, each hand shape corresponds to a specific a letter of the name.

The name Macdonald in sign language

Numerology