MacLeòid

MacLeòid
Gender Masculine
Language(s) Scottish Gaelic
Other gender
Feminine NicLeòid
Origin
Language(s) Scottish Gaelic
Derivation mac + Leòid
Meaning "son" + "of Leòd"
Other names
Cognate(s) Mac Leóid
See also Mac Giolla Mochadha
Families
Clan MacLeod, Clan MacLeod of Lewis

MacLeòid is a masculine surname in Scottish Gaelic. The name translates into English as "son of Leòd". The feminine form of the name is NicLeòid, which translates into English as "daughter of Leòd". These surnames originated as a patronyms. However, they no longer refer to the actual name of the bearer's father. There are numerous Anglicised forms of MacLeòid. In the Irish language, MacLeòid is rendered as Mac Leóid; the feminine forms of this Irish name are NicLeóid, Bean Mhic Leóid, and Mhic Leóid.

Etymology

The Scottish Gaelic MacLeòid originated as a patronym, in the form of mac Leòid, which translates into English as "son of Leòd". Today, however, the surname MacLeòid does not refer to the actual name of the bearer's father. The name Leòd is a Scottish Gaelic derivative of the Old Norse personal name Ljótr. This Old Norse personal name is composed of an element which translates into English as "ugly".[1][2]

Feminine form

MacLeòid is a masculine surname. The Scottish Gaelic form of this surname for females is NicLeòid. This feminine name is composed of the prefix Nic- which is an abbreviated form of the Scottish Gaelic nighean which translates into English as "daughter".[3] Like the masculine form of the surname, NicLeòid no longer refers to the actual name of the bearer's father.

Cognates

MacLeòid is rendered in Irish as Mac Leóid.[4] Like the Scottish Gaelic form, the Irish Mac Leóid translates into English as "son of Leód"; and like the Scottish Gaelic form, it no longer refers to the actual name of the bearer's father.[5] The form of this Irish surname for unmarried females is Nic Leóid; this name is actually a contracted form of Iníon Mhic Leóid, which translates into English as "daughter of Mac Leóid". The form of Mac Leóid for married females is Bean Mhic Leóid, which translates into English as "wife of Mac Leóid"; this surname can also be represented in the contracted form Mhic Leóid.[5]

Anglicised forms

Anglicised forms of MacLeòid, in use today, include MacLeod,[1] McCloud,[1] McLeod,[6] McLoud.[6] Anglicised forms of Mac Leóid include MacLeod, MacCleod, and MacCloud.[4] According to late 19th-century Irish genealogist John O'Hart, the English MacLeod is also an Anglicised form of the Irish Mac Giolla Mochadha, which is etymologically unrelated to MacLeòid and Mac Leóid.[7]

Families

An early record of the surname is of Gillandres MacLeod, in 1227.[1][2] Gillandres was likely a member of a noted clerical family that descended from Leod, a 12th-century 'abbot' of Brechin.[8] The surname MacLeòid, and its various Anglicised forms, have also been borne by members of Clan MacLeod,[2] a once powerful Scottish clan, seated on the west coast of Scotland. The leading branches of the clan are the MacLeods of MacLeod. who are seated on Skye; and the MacLeods of Lewis, who were historically seated on Lewis.[note 1] The MacLeods of Clan MacLeod derive their surname from Leod, a shadowy figure who does not appear in contemporary records, but is thought to have lived in the 13th century. The first members of the family to appear in contemporary records are Malcolm MacLeod and Torquil MacLeod, who are recorded in a royal charter in about the year 1343.

Notes

  1. ↑ The original line of the MacLeods of Lewis was extinguished and lost in the early 17th century, and a new line was recognised by the Lord Lyon in the late 20th century. Since the late 20th century, the MacLeods of MacLeods have not been male-line descendants of the original line of chiefs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, p. 2054, ISBN 0-203-99355-1 Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, pp. 538, 933
  3. ↑ Mark, Colin (2006) [2003], The Gaelic-English Dictionary, Taylor & Francis e-Library, London: Routledge, p. 454, ISBN 0-203-22259-8
  4. 1 2 Mac Leóid, Library Ireland (www.libraryireland.com), retrieved 5 December 2010 which is a transcription of: Woulfe, Patrick (1923), Irish Names and Surnames
  5. 1 2 Stenson, Nancy (2008), Basic Irish: A Grammar and Workshop, Taylor & Francis e-Library, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, pp. 53–55, ISBN 0-203-92737-0
  6. 1 2 Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 2 December 2010 which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 for the surnames "MacLeod", "McLeod", and "McLoud".
  7. ↑ O'Hart, John (1892), Irish pedigrees; or, The origin and stem of the Irish nation, 1 (5 ed.), James Duffy and Co., p. 146
  8. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. (1992), Scotland and its neighbours in the Middle Ages, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, pp. 111–113, ISBN 978-1-85285-052-4
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