Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - Rocky

WillH · 09-22-2007, 05:48 PM

From the little info I could find on the internet the "prefix" Mc on surnames of Gaelic origin are simply an abbreviation of Mac, which is derived from the word meaning "son of." (Where as O' is "grandson/decedent of"). So it seems that the proper pronunciation would be "Mac." So I guess names like McNabb should actually be pronounced MAC-NABB, but in America, distanced from ancestral cultural influences people with Mc surnames have come to pronounce it different ways. So, I guess I don't have a definitive answer, except that the assumption that it is pronounced MAC-Intosh is an accurate assumption, so unless he specifies otherwise it is safe to pronounce it that way.

09-22-2007, 05:48 PM	#7
WillH The Starter Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,592	Re: Rocky - #52 From the little info I could find on the internet the "prefix" Mc on surnames of Gaelic origin are simply an abbreviation of Mac, which is derived from the word meaning "son of." (Where as O' is "grandson/decedent of"). So it seems that the proper pronunciation would be "Mac." So I guess names like McNabb should actually be pronounced MAC-NABB, but in America, distanced from ancestral cultural influences people with Mc surnames have come to pronounce it different ways. So, I guess I don't have a definitive answer, except that the assumption that it is pronounced MAC-Intosh is an accurate assumption, so unless he specifies otherwise it is safe to pronounce it that way.