McKelvie Surname

130,178th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 3,476 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Scotland

McKelvie Surname Definition:

MACKELVIE, Mackelvey, Mackelvy, Mackilvie: Gaelic Mac Shealbhaigh, 'Selbach's son.' Sealbhach mac Shealbhaich is the hero in the tale of the Balieveolan Glassrig (Macdougall, Folk tales and fairy lore, 1910, p. 216). Morice Macsalny of Dumfriesshire rendered homage, 1296.

Read More About This Surname

McKelvie Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,0231:354,31031,697
Scotland1,0171:5,264881
Australia6081:44,4015,593
England5381:103,56510,880
Canada5191:70,9938,110
New Zealand2691:16,8342,941
Northern Ireland451:41,0013,772
Portugal281:372,08012,265
South Africa251:2,167,10894,352
Wales211:147,35910,403
Isle of Man71:12,2602,387
Uganda51:7,807,856134,263
Thailand51:14,127,669603,945
Brazil41:53,518,583632,670
United Arab Emirates41:2,290,56860,372
Singapore41:1,376,92628,409
Hong Kong21:3,667,74211,574
Philippines21:50,619,112341,003
Germany21:40,252,730481,636
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
Taiwan11:23,444,74693,622
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Haiti11:10,683,90724,607
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland321:138,4337,742
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland7661:4,887763
England1021:238,97417,695
Wales61:261,4039,165
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1021:492,34034,768

McKelvie Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

MACKELVIE, Mackelvey, Mackelvy, Mackilvie: Gaelic Mac Shealbhaigh, 'Selbach's son.' Sealbhach mac Shealbhaich is the hero in the tale of the Balieveolan Glassrig (Macdougall, Folk tales and fairy lore, 1910, p. 216). Morice Macsalny of Dumfriesshire rendered homage, 1296. His seal bears a hunting horn stringed, S' Morid f' salni (Bain, II, p. 210,557). In 1300 we have record of an allowance to Mathew, son of Maurice Make Salui, a Galloway hostage (ibid., 1179; Hist. Docs., II, p. 426). Robert M'Kelvie in office-croft in Tongueland, 1736 (Kirkcudbright), and Andrew M'Kelvie was barn-officer of the earl of Stair, 1744 (Wigtown). In 1684 the name appears (Parish) as McKelvie, Mcllvey, Mclwie, McKelway, Kelvie (Kelvy).

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

(Celtic) Son of the Servant of the Dark (Man) [Irish and Gaelic Mac Giolla Dhubhthaich-mac, son + giolla, gille, servant: v. Duffy]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

McKelvie Last Name Facts

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

McKelvie is found most frequently in The United States. It can also be found as a variant:. Click here for further possible spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name McKelvie? popularity and diffusion

McKelvie is the 130,178th most widely held family name throughout the world, held by around 1 in 2,096,532 people. It is predominantly found in Europe, where 48 percent of McKelvie reside; 47 percent reside in Northern Europe and 47 percent reside in British Isles.

This surname is most prevalent in The United States, where it is held by 1,023 people, or 1 in 354,310. In The United States McKelvie is most common in: Michigan, where 7 percent live, Missouri, where 6 percent live and Pennsylvania, where 6 percent live. Other than The United States it is found in 28 countries. It is also common in Scotland, where 29 percent live and Australia, where 17 percent live.

McKelvie Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of McKelvie has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people who held the McKelvie surname rose 1,003 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Scotland it rose 133 percent between 1881 and 2014; in England it rose 527 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it rose 350 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it decreased 97 percent between 1901 and 2014.

McKelvie Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the last name is predominantly Anglican (47%) in Ireland.

In The United States McKelvie are 7.54% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 54.31% being registered with the party.

The amount McKelvie earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 70.92% more than the national average, earning R 406,164 per year; in United States they earn 4.25% more than the national average, earning $44,982 USD per year and in Canada they earn 2.82% more than the national average, earning $51,085 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
McElvie9313/
McKelvey8810,975/
MacKellve820/
McKelvy801,999/
McLevie8049/
McElvee803/
McAlvie800/
Maikelvi757/
McElvy71289/
Mackeluey712/
MacKelwee710/
MacKelbee710/
McElwee675,863/
McAlvey67176/
MacLver6720/
MacKelwich677/
Mockelwich674/
Makelwe671/
Macleve671/

Search for Another Surname

McKelvie Reference & Research

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

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 McKelvie
  • 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