McCleish Surname

1,185,157th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 200 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Scotland

McCleish Surname Definition:

MACCLEISH: Gaelic M'A 'Lios for fuller Mac Gill' Iosa, 'son of the servant of Jesus.' Mychael M'Cleish or M'CIeisch was tenant of the Brewland cum le stallage' in Dumfriesshire in 1376 (RHM., I, p. liii; II, p. 16). Thomas M'Cleche was a voter in parish of Qwilton (Coylton), 1514, and Michaile M'Cleys, witness in Carrik, 1514 (Ros, 52, 84).

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McCleish Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1491:2,432,610149,447
Australia351:771,30649,759
Scotland141:382,41616,471
England21:27,859,030389,889
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland221:170,1466,794
England31:8,125,123158,686
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States101:5,021,868210,693

McCleish Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

MACCLEISH: Gaelic M'A 'Lios for fuller Mac Gill' Iosa, 'son of the servant of Jesus.' Mychael M'Cleish or M'CIeisch was tenant of the Brewland cum le stallage' in Dumfriesshire in 1376 (RHM., I, p. liii; II, p. 16). Thomas M'Cleche was a voter in parish of Qwilton (Coylton), 1514, and Michaile M'Cleys, witness in Carrik, 1514 (Ros, 52, 84). Duncan M'Cleish was servant to Dwgall M'Dugall in Deweldik, 1588 (Sc. Ant., VI p. 163), another Duncan M'Cleiche was admitted burgess of Glasgow, 1589, and a third Duncan M'Cleishe, burgess freeman in 1627 (Burgesses), Robert M'Gleish, burgess of Irvine, 1686, and John M'Cleish, burgess, 1745 (Irvine II, p. 309,324). McCleisich 1704, M'Cliesh 1703.

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

MACLEISH, Maclish: Gaelic M'A'Lios, a shortened form of Mac Gill' Iosa, 'son of the servant of Jesus.' It is hard, however, to say, from the old forms (M'Coleis, M'llishe) whether the origin form was Maoliosa or Gilliosa, for m (of Maol) becomes mh or v and disappears and g (of Gille) becomes gh and disappears also, leaving stumps like 'aol and 'ill (Macbain). In 1542 the name appears as Makleis in Muthill, which points to M'Gilliosa, as does the modern form itself. In 1613 Malleis McColleis in North Perthshire was fined for reset of Clan Gregor (RPC., XIV, p. 634), and Duncane M'Coleis in Muyeirnolycht was one of the laird of Glemirquhay's vassals in 1638 (BBT., p, 339). In the Iona charter of 1580 Gillecrist Og M'Culeis in Ardnahow. Donald don McLeich, 1665 (IDR., p. 310). See also Macgleish and Maclese.

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

McCleish Last Name Facts

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

The surname McCleish is found most in The United States. It can also occur as:. Click here for other potential spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name McCleish? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 1,185,157th most frequent family name on earth, held by approximately 1 in 36,437,730 people. It is primarily found in The Americas, where 68 percent of McCleish are found; 68 percent are found in North America and 68 percent are found in Anglo-North America.

The last name McCleish is most common in The United States, where it is carried by 149 people, or 1 in 2,432,610. In The United States it is primarily found in: Iowa, where 19 percent are found, Missouri, where 13 percent are found and Illinois, where 10 percent are found. Without taking into account The United States this last name occurs in 3 countries. It is also common in Australia, where 18 percent are found and Scotland, where 7 percent are found.

McCleish Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of McCleish has changed through the years. In The United States the share of the population with the last name grew 1,490 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Scotland it fell 36 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in England it fell 33 percent between 1881 and 2014.

McCleish Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those bearing the McCleish last name are 36.56% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 83.33% being registered with the political party.

McCleish earn somewhat less than the average income. In United States they earn 13.1% less than the national average, earning $37,495 USD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
McLeish935,690/
McClish931,548/
Macleish88499/
MacClesh888/
McLish86171/
MacCleesh825/
MacLeisch821/
McClees80644/
Maclish80134/
MacClis801/
McCleese751,005/
McClease75435/
Macklish7555/
MacLiesh7514/
Macleshe754/
MacLeash753/
Macklesh751/
McLees711,403/
Mocles71458/
Maclis71103/
Macles7144/
MacLeitch7111/
McClos711/
Macklis67227/
MacKles67126/
MacLise67114/
MacLees6766/
Mascles6746/
Mocklis6735/
McEllis6733/
MacLies6724/
Maclich6712/
Mockles677/
MacLese676/
Maklish675/
McAllis675/
Moicles672/
McClaus672/
Moklish672/
Maklesh671/
Macluis671/
Maclues671/
Maclhis671/
MacLiss671/
Moklesh671/
Meacles670/
McClass670/
McAlles670/

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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 McCleish
  • 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