McNirlan Surname

6,360,413th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 9 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Northern Ireland
Highest density in:
Northern Ireland

McNirlan Surname Definition:

MACNERLIN, Macerlane: From Irish Mac an Fhirleighinn, 'son of the lector, ' or 'man of reading. ' The firleighinn or ferleighinn was the head of a monastic school both in Scotland and in Ireland. In Iona in 1164 (Reeves, Adamnan, p. 407) we find Ferleighinn Dubside as one of the officials of the monastery, and in the following century the name is still preserved in connection with the church of St.

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McNirlan Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Northern Ireland91:205,0049,958
England21:27,859,030389,889
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland151:295,32411,912

McNirlan Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

MACNERLIN, Macerlane: From Irish Mac an Fhirleighinn, 'son of the lector, ' or 'man of reading. ' The firleighinn or ferleighinn was the head of a monastic school both in Scotland and in Ireland. In Iona in 1164 (Reeves, Adamnan, p. 407) we find Ferleighinn Dubside as one of the officials of the monastery, and in the following century the name is still preserved in connection with the church of St. Andrews (Skene, CS., II, p. 446). The name occurs as Virolecus in Adamnan (VC., III, 14) as that of a man in Airchartdan (Glen Urquhart) baptized by the saint during his visit there. About 1211 Laurence, archdeacon and ferlan, head of the schools of St. Andrews, appears in connection with a dispute with the prior and canons; his title is Latinized Fertanus and Ferleynus (RPSA., p. 317—318). Morice Macinnn egin obtained possession of the perpetual vicarage of S. Comanus's in Ila after he had become excommunicate (Pap. Lett., VII, p. 597). In 1443 Donald, son of Dominic Macnafirlegind, perpetual vicar of S. Comanus's (Kilchoman), evidently a relative, was accused of being "a notorious fornicator" (ibid., IX, p. 404). On the Kilchoman Cross is the inscription: Hec est crux foc(ta) pro animabus Doncani mec Innirlegin et Mari et Michaelis, "This is a cross made for the souls of Duncan, son of the lector and Mary and Michael." Its date may be about 1420 or 1430.

— The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:
  • Religious Adherence in:
    Ireland

McNirlan Demographics

McNirlan Religious Adherence
in Ireland

Sample size: 15 (1901)

Religious Adherence
in Ireland

View the most religious surnames in Ireland

McNirlan Last Name Facts

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

The last name McNirlan occurs most in Northern Ireland. It can also appear in the variant forms:. Click here for other possible spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name McNirlan? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 6,360,413th most common family name throughout the world, borne by approximately 1 in 809,727,324 people. The surname is mostly found in Europe, where 122 percent of McNirlan live; 122 percent live in Northern Europe and 122 percent live in British Isles.

The last name McNirlan is most widespread in Northern Ireland, where it is borne by 9 people, or 1 in 205,004. In Northern Ireland it is most frequent in: Ulster, where 100 percent are found. Other than Northern Ireland this last name is found in one country. It is also common in England, where 22 percent are found.

McNirlan Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those bearing the McNirlan surname is principally Anglican (73%) 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
McNurlan88137/
McNerlan8810/
McNirlin881/
McNarlan880/
McNirlen880/
McAnirlin825/
McAnarlan820/
McNerland820/
McNearland780/
McNerlin75333/
McNurlin75317/
McNurlen75160/
McNarlen750/
McNorlen750/
McNarlin750/
McAnarlin710/
McNearlin710/
McAnarlen710/
MacNurlin710/
McAnerlin710/
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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 McNirlan
  • 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