McWhirter and Macwhirter, MacWhirter (also spelled McWherter and Macwherter, MacWherter) are

Anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

s of the Scottish Gaelic ''Mac an Chruiteir'', meaning "son of the

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing ...

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...

". Mawhorter and McWhorter are less common forms of this Scottish name, and are found in North America. The name is derived from the Gaelic ''cruitear'', meaning "harpist", "fiddler". The Scottish name is generally found in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

. The surnames can be represented in modern

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 ...

as Mac a' Chruiteir.

People with the surnames

;Macwhirter, MacWhirter *

Iain Macwhirter Iain Macwhirter (born 24 September 1952) is a Scottish political journalist. He is a political commentator for several newspapers, an author and documentary film and radio presenter and a former Rector of Edinburgh University. He has worked at ...

Scottish political commentator *

John MacWhirter John MacWhirter (27 March 1839 in Slateford, Edinburgh - 28 January 1911 in London) was a Scottish landscape painter. Biography John was the third of four children. One of his elder sisters, Agnes MacWhirter was also a noted artist of stil ...

(1839–1911), Scottish landscape painter ;McWhirter * Alastair McWhirter (born 1953), British police officer and chief constable * Anthony McWhirter (1872–1932), Scottish footballer *

Douglas McWhirter Douglas S. McWhirter (13 August 1886 – 14 October 1966) was an English amateur footballer who competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics. McWhirter, born in Erith, Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South ...

(1886–1966), English Olympic football player *

George McWhirter George McWhirter (born September 26, 1939) is an Irish-Canadian writer, translator, editor, teacher and Vancouver's first Poet Laureate. The son of a shipyard worker, George McWhirter was raised in a large extended family on the Shankill Road i ...

(born 1939), Irish-Canadian writer * David McWhirter (1948–2005), Texas A&M English Professor * John McWhirter (contemporary), British mathematician and engineer *

Julie McWhirter Julie McWhirter, also known as Julie Dees and Julie McWhirter-Dees, is a retired American voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Jeannie in the animated version of '' Jeannie'', Bubbles in '' Jabberjaw'' and Baby Smurf and S ...

(born 1947), American voice actress *Kent Franklin McWhirter (

Kent McCord Kent Franklin McWhirter (born September 26, 1942), known by his stage name Kent McCord, is a retired American actor, best known for his roles as Officer Jim Reed on the television series ''Adam-12'', Captain "Boxey" Troy on ''Galactica 1980'', an ...

) American Actor * Louise McWhirter (1896–1957), writer on financial astrology * Luella F. McWhirter (1859–1952), American philanthropist, clubwoman, and temperance leader * Norrie McWhirter (born 1969), Scottish footballer (St. Mirren FC) *

Norris McWhirter Norris Dewar McWhirter (12 August 192519 April 2004) was a British writer, political activist, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother Ross were known internationally for founding the refe ...

(1925–2004), British writer and political activist; cofounder of the ''Guinness World Records''; brother of Ross McWhirter *

Ross McWhirter Alan Ross McWhirter (12 August 1925 – 27 November 1975) was, with his twin brother, Norris, the cofounder of the 1955 ''Guinness Book of Records'' (known since 2000 as ''Guinness World Records'') and a contributor to the television programm ...

(1925–1975), British cofounder of ''Guinness World Records''; brother of Norris McWhirter; assassinated * Steven McWhirter (born 1983), Northern Irish pipe band drummer ;McWherter, Macwherter, MacWherter *

Ned McWherter Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930April 4, 2011) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee, from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that, he served as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 19 ...

(1930–2011), 46th governor of Tennessee ;McWhorter, MacWhorter *

John McWhorter John Hamilton McWhorter V (; born October 6, 1965) is an American linguist. He is an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University, where he also teaches American studies and music history. He has authored a number of books on race ...

(born 1965), American linguist * William A. McWhorter (1918–1944), US Army WWII (casualty) Medal of Honor recipient from Liberty, Pickens, South Carolina *

Alexander MacWhorter Alexander MacWhorter, DD (also spelled McWhorter; July 26, 1734 – July 20, 1807) was an American clergyman. Biography MacWhorter was born in New Castle, Delaware Colony, 26 July 1734. His parents, who were Scots-Irish immigrants, came to Ame ...

(1734–1807), American Clergyman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcwhirter Patronymic surnames Anglicised Scottish Gaelic-language surnames Surnames of Scottish origin Gaelic-language surnames