''MacAlley'' and ''McAlley'' are unisex

surnames In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several giv ...

in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. There are several origins for the names.

Etymology

Both surnames can be derived from several Gaelic surnames.. In some cases the surnames are derived from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

'' MacAmhalghaidh''. This name translates into English as "son of '' Amhalghaidh''",, which is a transcription of: . or "son of '' Amhalghadh''"., which cited: , for the surname "McCauley". The surname originated as a

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, ...

, however it no longer refers to the actual name of the bearer's father. The

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Amhalghaidh'' (also spelt ''Amhalghadh'') is an old

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

name, and is of uncertain origin and meaning. In other cases, the surnames are derived from the Scottish Gaelic '' MacAmhlaibh'' or '' MacAmhlaidh''. These surnames translate into English as "son of '' Amhlaibh''", and "son of ''

Amhladh Aulay is a Scottish masculine given name. It is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic , , , and . The standard Irish Gaelic form of these names is ''Amhlaoibh'' (, ); which can be Anglicised as ''Auliffe'' and ''Humphrey''. The Old Irish persona ...

''" or "son of ''

Amhlaidh Aulay is a Scottish masculine given name. It is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic , , , and . The standard Irish Gaelic form of these names is ''Amhlaoibh'' (, ); which can be Anglicised as ''Auliffe'' and ''Humphrey''. The Old Irish persona ...

''". The surnames originated as a patronyms, however they no longer refer to the actual name of the bearer's father. The names ''Amhlaibh'', ''Amhladh'', and ''Amhlaidh'' are

derivatives of the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

personal name ''

Óláfr Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" and ''laibaz'' "heirloom, descendant". Old Eng ...

''.

People with the surname

;MacAlley ;McAlley * Nicola McAlley, Scottish, journalist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlley Patronymic surnames