McCandlish explained

McCandlish, MacCandlish
Meaning:	'Son of Cuindleas'
Variant:	McAndlish, McCanleis, McCaunles, McCandleish, and many others

McCandlish (is Scottish surname (and rarely also a given name), derived from Scottish Gaelic and Middle Irish Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Mac Cuindlis (among other spellings), meaning 'son of Cuindleas', an Old Irish given name of uncertain meaning.^[1]

Variants

Some variants include McAndlish, McCanalish, McCandelich, McCandelish, McCandish, McCandlash, and McCandleis, among others. Spellings with Mac were believed to be extinct by the first half of the 20th century, but still survive among a few families, primarily in the United States and Canada.^[2] As with other names of this sort, versions with M' were also attested until the early 20th century.^[3]

The name is closely related to McCandless (from the same derivation), found in Scotland and especially the north of Ireland (Ulster).^{[4] [5]} Some recorded north Irish variants are more similar to McCandlish, e.g. McCandleish, while some Scottish variants are closer to McCandless, e.g. McCanleis and McCaunles. McCandlish itself has also sometimes historically been attested in Northern Ireland.^[6]

It is etymologically but probably not familially related to Irish: [[Ó Cuindlis]], 'descendant of Cuindlis', a literary family of Uí Mháine in west-central Ireland.^{[7] [8]} The earliest form of the given name can be traced back to an abbot from the 8th century called Cuindles.^{[9] [10]}

Surname

• Benjamin McCandlish (1886–1975), United States Navy flag officer; 36th naval governor of Guam
• Edward Gerstell McCandlish (1887–1946), American illustrator, mapmaker, toymaker, and author of the Bunny Tots series of children's books (1920s); perhaps best known for illustrating Laboulaye's Fairy Book
• John Edward Chalmers McCandlish (1901–1974), British Army major-general
• John MacGregor McCandlish (1821–1901), Scottish lawyer; first president of the Faculty of Actuaries
• Mackey McCandlish, animator, game designer, and co-creator of Blahbalicious
• Margherita McCandlish Wood (1892–1954), former first lady of Guam, wife of Benjamin
• William McCandlish, British dog breeder

Given name

• McCandlish Phillips (1927–2013), American journalist and evangelist

See also

• Candlish, a derived Scottish surname
• McCandless (surname), a more common Scots-Irish form of the name, primarily found in the north of Ireland
• Ó Cuindlis, a west Irish surname dating to the 14th century; anglicized as Conlisk, Cundlish, Quinlist, and several other variants

Notes and References

1. Book: Black, George F. . George Fraser Black . The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History . New York Public Library . 2nd . 1962 . 978-0-87104-172-2 . 1946 . p. 131, "Candlish"; p. 464, "MacCandlish" . registration . Internet Archive. A newer edition of this book exists (2015,).
2. Web site: MacCandlish Surname Definition . 2022 . Forebears . 10 December 2023.
3. Book: Matheson, Robert E. . 1242: M'Candless . Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland . 50 . 1901 . Dublin . . https://archive.org/details/varietiessynonym00math/page/50/mode/2up . Internet Archive.
4. Book: MacLysaght, Edward . Edward MacLysaght . Mac Candless . The Surnames of Ireland . 6th . Dublin . Irish Academic Press . 1997 . 1957 . 35–36 . registration . Internet Archive. Link is to 1985 edition, but pagination is the same. A newer edition of this book exists (1989,).
5. Web site: Surname Database: McCandless Last Name Origin . 3 April 2023 . The Internet Surname Database.
6. Web site: 2023 . 1901/1911 Census, Ireland / Search: McCandlish . 11 March 2023 . Search Census . National Archives of Ireland.
   The data can be visualised with maps provided here:
   Web site: Griffin . Barry . MacCandlish Surname Maps of Ireland . 2023 . 11 March 2023 . Irish Surname Maps for the 1901 and 1911 Census of Ireland.
7. Web site: Woulfe . Patrick . 1922 . Ó Cuindlis . Irish Names and Surnames / Sloinnte Gaelheal Is Gall . II . 93 . Dublin . . Internet Archive.
8. Book: Koch, John T. . John T. Koch . Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . 2006 . . 9781851094400 . vol. 3, pp. 1119, 1121; vol. 5, p. 2102.
9. Book: Ryan, John . The Abbatial Succession at Clonmacnoise . Ryan . John . Feil-Sgribhinn Eóin Mhic Neill / Essays and Studies Presented to Professor Eóin Mac Neill . Dublin . Three Candles Press . 1938 . 499. A revised edition of this book exists (1995,).
10. Web site: Woulfe . Patrick . 1922 . MacCuindilis, MacCuindlis . Irish Names and Surnames / Sloinnte Gaelheal Is Gall . II . 68 . Dublin . . Internet Archive.