MacFadyen is a Scottish and Irish

patronymic 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, b ...

surname 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 give ...

meaning "son of little Patrick". The

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

prefix "Mac" means "son of", while "Fadyen" is a derivative of 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 ...

''Phaid(e)in'' or Irish ''Pháidín'', meaning "little Patrick". It is a variant of the surname McFadden, which has other variants. Notable people with the surname include: *

Allan Macfadyen Allan Macfadyen (26 May 1860 in Glasgow – 1 March 1907 in Hampstead, London) was a Scottish bacteriologist, a pioneer in immunization against bacterial infection. Early life and education The youngest of four sons of a brass founder in G ...

(1860–1907), Scottish bacteriologist *

Angus Macfadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in ''Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in '' Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in ''Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the ''Saw'' franch ...

(born 1963), Scottish actor *

Christie MacFadyen Christie MacFadyen is a Canadian actress best known for appearing in the film '' The Top of His Head''.Marc Horton, "Mystery-love story makes for obscure but rewarding film". ''Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper publ ...

, Canadian actress *

Donnie Macfadyen Donald John Hunter Macfadyen (born 11 October 1979) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played as a Flanker. He made over 100 appearances for Glasgow Warriors from 1999 to 2008. Rugby Union career Amateur career Macfa ...

(born 1979), Scottish rugby player *

Donald Macfadyen, Lord Macfadyen Donald James Dobbie Macfadyen, Lord Macfadyen (8 September 1945 – 11 April 2008) was a highly regarded Scottish lawyer who served as a judge for over a decade. In 2002, he was one of the five judges who heard the appeal of Abdelbaset al- ...

(1945–2008), Scottish lawyer and judge *

Elmer MacFadyen Elmer Eric MacFadyen (January 9, 1943 – August 17, 2007) was a Canadian politician. He represented Sherwood-Hillsborough in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1996 to 2007 as a Progressive Conservative member. MacFadye ...

(1943–2007), Canadian politician * Eric Macfadyen (1879-1966), English colonial administrator *

Gavin MacFadyen Gavin Hall MacFadyen (né Galter; January 1, 1940 – October 22, 2016) was an American investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. He was the director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) at Goldsmiths, University of London; ...

(1940–2016), American investigative journalist * Ian Macfadyen, (born 1942), British retired Air Marshal *

Matthew Macfadyen David Matthew Macfadyen (; born 17 October 1974) is an English actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he Breakthrough role, gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's ''Pride & Prejudice (2005 film), Pride & Prej ...

(born 1974), English actor * Ross Macfadyen, Scottish broadcast professional *

Willie MacFadyen William MacFadyen (23 June 1904 – 20 January 1971) was a Scottish football player and manager. A goalscoring centre forward, his 52 league goals for Motherwell's 1931–32 championship winning side remains the record goals total for a single ...

(1904–1971), Scottish football player and manager

References

{{surname Patronymic surnames

See also

References