MacLennan Surname

48,772nd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 10,562 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Scotland
Highest density in:
Scotland

MacLennan Surname Definition:

Gaelic MacGill'innein for fuller MacGill-Fhinnein, 'son of Finnan's servant.' S. Finnan was founder of the school of Maghbile (now Moville) at the head of Strangford Lough, county Down. Kessanus Macglenane was one of the witnesses to a charter of the lands of Cartonvenach in the Lennox to Maurice, son of Galbraith, c.

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MacLennan Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland3,1131:1,720316
Canada2,6811:13,7432,021
United States1,8531:195,60719,308
England1,1841:47,0595,916
Australia8041:33,5774,424
New Zealand3681:12,3052,142
South Africa1951:277,83427,419
Argentina511:838,10654,910
Wales481:64,4695,713
Netherlands441:383,79941,363
Northern Ireland381:48,5544,148
France181:3,690,151224,666
Ireland161:294,30910,207
Singapore131:423,66918,211
Spain131:3,596,31069,669
Thailand131:5,433,719375,884
Uruguay111:311,97820,848
Mexico111:11,284,20041,789
Sweden91:1,094,08481,336
Peru81:3,973,01532,693
United Arab Emirates81:1,145,28440,289
Norway71:734,61250,907
Brazil61:35,679,055486,536
Germany61:13,417,576340,600
Chile41:4,404,11844,633
Dominican Republic41:2,608,23320,941
Cook Islands31:6,0601,122
Hong Kong31:2,445,1619,595
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Belgium21:5,748,322130,559
Zimbabwe21:7,719,120118,432
Israel21:4,278,817136,311
Switzerland21:4,106,458122,336
China21:683,660,78330,601
Antigua and Barbuda11:99,1712,137
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Algeria11:38,631,551130,422
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Russia11:144,123,056881,408
South Korea11:51,240,2568,015
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Ghana11:27,020,69223,742
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
Philippines11:101,238,223404,861
Papua New Guinea11:8,153,717181,784
Oman11:3,687,97114,390
Curaçao11:157,2471,313
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Jersey11:99,2026,620
Japan11:127,844,29373,547
Indonesia11:132,249,194811,426
Grenada11:108,5351,793
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland61:738,31121,113
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States81:6,277,336262,771

MacLennan Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

Gaelic MacGill'innein for fuller MacGill-Fhinnein, 'son of Finnan's servant.' S. Finnan was founder of the school of Maghbile (now Moville) at the head of Strangford Lough, county Down. Kessanus Macglenane was one of the witnesses to a charter of the lands of Cartonvenach in the Lennox to Maurice, son of Galbraith, c. 1250 (Levenax, p. 27). Gilmory Makynnane, tenant of Eddirallekach in 1480, appears in 1483 as Gilmory M'Lenane (ER., IX, p. 562,595). John M'Clynyne was witness in Arne, 1529 (RMS., III, 896), and Adam M'Clenane held property in Culross, 1586 (ibid., V, 1103). James Makclennand in Hoilhous, 1594 (Hunter, p. 36). The name occers in 1592 as M'Clanan, and John M'Linein in Over Law, Kirkcudbrightshire, is in record, 1678 (Kirkcudbright). Alexander M'Lennan or M'Clenan in Lochbroom was made prisoner in the '45. John Melllenane or McKillenane in Torloisk, Mull, was put to the horn in 1629 (RPC., 2. ser. II, p. 341; III, p. 46). Rob Donn spells the name Mac-an-Linnein (ed. Morrison, p. 449).

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

(Celtic) 1 Son of the Servant of Finnan = Fair One [Gaelic mac, son + gille, m., servant + fhi(o)nn (fh mute) genit. of fi(o)nn, fair + the diminutive suff. -án] 2 Son of the Servant of Adamnan = Little Adam

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(Celtic) 1 Son of the Servant of Finnan = Fair One 2 Son of the Servant of Adamnan = Little Adam

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

“Son of Little Adam” (Ennan) in Gaelic.

South African Surnames (1965) by Eric Rosenthal

(Scottish) The son of the servant of St. Finnian.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

Gael. Mac-Leannan. "The son of the Concubine."

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

MacLennan Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name MacLennan Come From? nationality or country of origin

MacLennan is found in Scotland more than any other country/territory. It can occur as:. For other potential spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name MacLennan? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 48,772nd most frequent family name on earth, borne by around 1 in 689,978 people. It is mostly found in The Americas, where 44 percent of MacLennan live; 43 percent live in North America and 42 percent live in Anglo-North America.

MacLennan is most commonly occurring in Scotland, where it is held by 3,113 people, or 1 in 1,720. In Scotland MacLennan is mostly found in: Highland, where 46 percent live, Outer Hebrides, where 10 percent live and City of Edinburgh, where 6 percent live. Excluding Scotland this last name exists in 51 countries. It is also found in Canada, where 25 percent live and The United States, where 18 percent live.

MacLennan Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of MacLennan has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the MacLennan last name grew 23,163 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in Ireland it grew 267 percent between 1901 and 2014.

MacLennan Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those bearing the MacLennan surname is predominantly Presbyterian (100%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the MacLennan surname are 2.33% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 50.9% being registered to vote for the political party.

The amount MacLennan earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 9.74% less than the national average, earning 312,366 kr per year; in Peru they earn 329.05% more than the national average, earning S/. 83,171 per year; in South Africa they earn 118.11% more than the national average, earning R 518,316 per year; in United States they earn 20.56% more than the national average, earning $52,019 USD per year and in Canada they earn 0.9% less than the national average, earning $49,236 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
MacClennan9540/
MacLeannan953/
MacKlennan952/
McLennan9414,140/
Maclenan9435/
MacLnnan941/
McClennan89708/
Maclennon8925/
Macleanan897/
Macklenan891/
McLenan8862/
MacLenahan840/
McLennon82929/
McClenan82184/
MacLenon822/
Maklenan822/
Macclenahan8016/
McClennon78505/
McLenon75196/
MacClingan740/
McClenon71335/
McLeanon710/
McClinnon6712/
Maslingan671/
MacClinon671/
Maclnnocent602/
McClinon5948/
Maslinam591/

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MacLennan Reference & Research

MacLennan FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to MacLennan
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis