This surname may be extinct

McIlreay Surname Definition:

MACILRIE: Thomas Makilbrie (an error), servitor to Ninian Neven in Shetland, 1624, appears in the same year as Machilrie, and Thomas McChillrie, chapman, was a witness at Skallowaybanlds, 1626 (OSS., I, 52, 96,152). Duncan M'lllrie in Kartaren, parish of Balquhiddor, 1704 (Dunblane).

Read More About This Surname

McIlreay Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland11:4,429,86640,727
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland11:3,743,21632,299

McIlreay Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

MACILRIE: Thomas Makilbrie (an error), servitor to Ninian Neven in Shetland, 1624, appears in the same year as Machilrie, and Thomas McChillrie, chapman, was a witness at Skallowaybanlds, 1626 (OSS., I, 52, 96,152). Duncan M'lllrie in Kartaren, parish of Balquhiddor, 1704 (Dunblane). Janet M'llrae in Drimilling, 1628 (Dumfries). Donald M'llraw in Balliwilling denounced rebel, 1675 (HP., I, p. 296). Another current form of Macilriach.

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

MACILROY, Macelroy: Gaelic Mac 'Illerualdh (MacGhille ruaidh), 'son of the red haired lad. An old surname in the parish of Ballantrae, Ayrshire (Paterson, II, p. 87). Michael M'Gilrey was a tenant in Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, 1376 (RHM., I, p. lvi). Donald M'Gilleroi was a notary public in 1465 (Lamont, 19), and Ade M'Gilroy was tenant of Eglisisdane and Balnegregane, 1480 (ER., IX, p. 564). Michael Mak Gilroy, bailie of Are, 1488, appears in 1500 as M'Ylroye, and there was a mass for the soul of Nicholas M'Ylroy in Ayr, 1500 (Ayr, p. 92,95, 96). Donald Makgilroy, witness in Rothesay, 1529, is probably Donald Makgilroy or M'Gilroye, witness in Rute, 1545 and 1548 (RMS., III, 820; IV, 49,273), and John M'Gilroy was attorney in Perth, 1545 (Rollok, 40). Elleis Maldlrow signed the Rand of Dumfries, 1570 (RPC., XIV, p. 66). Gilleis M'IIroy in Kincardin, Inverness, was fined for resetting Clan Gregor, 1613 (RPC., XIV, p, 629). James M'IIroy was retoured heir of Walter M'Iroy in Kincardine, 1636 (Retours, Clackmannan, 16). The Black Book of Taymouth has the form M'Oulroy under the year 1638, but this is more probably for earlier Mac Mhaoil ruaidh. With omission of the apostrophe we have the current surname Milhoy, which see. It is also shortened to Roy accerding to Trotter (Galloway gossip-Kirkcudbrightshire, p. 213). The following spellings are all recorded in 1684 (Parish): McElroy, Mclllory, Mcllrie, McKebae, McKilrae, McKilrea, McKilroy, McLeroy, McLroy, Meikleroy, and Micklroy.

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

(Gaelic.) From Mac, gille, and ruadh, red—haired;—the son of the red—haired young man.

— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:
  • Religious Adherence in:
    Ireland

McIlreay Demographics

McIlreay Religious Adherence
in Ireland

Sample size: 1 (1901)

Religious Adherence
in Ireland

View the most religious surnames in Ireland

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
McIlrea930/
McIlraey880/
McIlrae8026/
McEelrea754/
McElreoy754/
McElrauy752/
McIlroee750/
McLeroey750/
McElrae672/
McElrge671/
McIllriach670/
McElrie670/
McElraeh633/
McKelrie630/
McClerge630/
McEllrowe590/
McElriath590/
McLerie53147/
Mslerya531/
McClerie501/
McLerrie500/
Show All Similar Surnames

Search for Another Surname

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

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 McIlreay
  • 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