MacLeod explained

MacLeod
Gender:Unisex
Language origin:
Origin:
  • 1. Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: [[MacLeòid]]
Variant:Macleod, McLeod, M‘Leod, MacLot, McCloud, MacCleod, McCleod

MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod [1] are surnames in the English language. The names are anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: [[MacLeòid]], meaning "son of Leòd", derived from the Old Norse Liótr ("ugly").[2]

One of the earliest occurrences of the surname is of Gillandres MacLeod, in 1227. There are two recognised Scottish clans with the surname: Clan MacLeod of Harris and Skye, and Clan MacLeod of Lewis and Raasay. The earliest record of these two families, using a form of the surname MacLeod, occurs in the mid 14th century.

There are also documented cases of Scottish missionaries in Canada using McLeod as an Anglicisation of the indigenous Cree language name Cree: Mahkiyoc (meaning "the big one"), which accounts for its occurrence amongst Canadian people of Cree heritage.[3]

People with the surname MacLeod, McLeod, Macleod

People with the given name Macleod, McLeod, MacLeod

Fictional characters with the surnames MacLeod or McLeod

Similar names

Notes and References

  1. which cited:
  2. Web site: Mcleod Name Meaning & Mcleod Family History at Ancestry.co.uk® . 2023-01-03 . www.ancestry.co.uk.
  3. McLead . Neal . Plains Cree Identity: Borderlands, Ambiguous Genealogies and Narrative Irony . The Canadian Journal of Native Studies . 2000 . 20 . 2 . 437–454 . 18 April 2013 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170623191458/http://www3.brandonu.ca/cjns/20.2/cjnsv20no1_pg437-454.pdf . 23 June 2017 .