Home » Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

How common is the name McCulloch?

According to Forebears.io:

The surname McCulloch is “held by approximately 1 in 254,045 people. McCulloch is mostly found in The Americas, where 57 percent of McCulloch reside.” Also “It is most commonly occurring in The United States, where it is carried by 11,970 people.”

How common is the name McCullough?

According to Forebears.io:

The surname McCullough is “borne by approximately 1 in 109,896 people. McCullough occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 99 percent of McCullough reside.” Also “The last name McCullough is most numerous in The United States, where it is held by 60,751 people.”

What clan does McCulloch belong to?

Clan McCulloch was is its own clan with a chief for hundreds of years. However, separate branches of the McCullochs were septs of Clan MacDougall and Clan Ross.

Is McCulloch Scottish or Irish?

The surname McCulloch is of Celtic origin. The chiefs of the Myreton line held castles and estates in Galloway, Scotland. (Their cadet lines had estates at Cardoness, Killasser, Ardwell, and Barholm in Galloway. Other lines included Torhouse, Torhousekie, Drummorrell, Mule, and Inch in Galloway, and Cadboll/Plaidis in the Scottish Highlands). Galloway is only 12 miles across the North Channel from Northern Ireland, so migration and cultural exchange might have been common. During the Ulster Plantation some McCullochs became prominent land owners in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland the name McCullough is common. It may have derived from a common origin as the surname McCulloch. Some, but not all, McCulloughs share modern common ancestors with the McCullochs of Galloway.

What is the McCulloch Motto?

Vi Et Animo (From Latin By strength and courage)

What does the name McCulloch mean?

The name is of Celtic origin, as can be seen from the prefix “mac” meaning son. However, discerning the rest of the name is difficult because of the absurd number of ways the name has been spelled over time, and the complexity of perceiving the sound of the name when spoken by a family and neighbors who at times likely spoke an evolving mix of Cymric (Brittonic, akin to Welsh) language, Galwegian Gaelic, Old English, Scots, and Norman French. It should be noted that the first recorded instance of the name “McCulloch” appeared on the Ragman Rolls and seems to have been rendered “Maculagh.”

The commonly accepted origin for the Scottish name McCulloch is mac Culloch, or “son of the boar.” (It’s worth noting that according to the “Gaelic Names of Beasts” by Alexander Robert Forbes (1905), the Gaelic words “culloch” and “cullach” may mean a fat heifer, a boar, yearling calf, bat, a male cat, or a stallion).

Andrew Agnew suggests an earlier Cymric origin for the name McCulloch in honor of the semi-legendary Briton leader “Gwallawc” or “Gwallog.”

Further, the common Irish name McCullough is believed to originate from “mac Cu Uladh,” which may be interpreted as “son of the hound of Ulster.” The most famous “hound of Ulster” was CĂș Chulainn of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Perhaps the McCulloughs took the name “mac cu Uladh” to honor Cu Chulainn. Alternatively, one might speculate that Gaelic speakers in Ulster heard a named derived from mac Gwallac with an accompanying origin story about a “local” legendary warrior and reimagined this to be a kindred family honoring their own local legend Cu Chulainn, thus “mac cu Uladh.”

Was the name “McCulloch” chanted at William Wallace in Braveheart?

Probably not, unless you want to believe that. The McCullochs were supporters of the Balliol cause, thus not supporters of Robert de Brus (of Norman descendent) or William Wallace in their wars for Scottish Independence against Edward I (House of Plantagenet). It is more likely that Mel Gibson invented a scene where Wallace’s followers chanted his name until it merged into something akin to “mac Wallace” to suggest that Wallace was clan chieftain. Alas, Wallace died without known heirs.

Who moved London Bridge to Arizona?

Robert P. McCulloch of chainsaw fame.

Do the McCullochs have a tartan?

No, not really.

Were the McCullochs Septs?

The McCullochs of Ross-shire (sometimes referred to as the McCullochs of Cadboll, Tain, Kindeace, or Plaidis) descend from Alexander McCulloch of Cadboll who was granted lands by Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross. These highland McCullochs intermarried so frequently with the Ross family that the McCullochs are sometimes included in Ross genealogies. These highland McCullochs were septs of Clan Ross, then of Clan Munro as of 1497.