MACFARLAND
Recorded variant spellings include Mac Farland, Macfarland
MacFarland is a surname of combined Gaelic origin, rooted in both Scottish and Irish traditions. The name is traditionally understood to mean “son of Parlan”, a diminutive of the Gaelic personal name Partholon, which itself is derived from the Old Irish word parth meaning “ploughman” or “farmer”. This patronymic construction is evident in the Irish variant MacFhearghail, where the suffix Mac denotes “son of” and the root Fearghal relates to a twelfth‑century nobleman from Connacht. The same Thomond lineage is recorded as a powerful sept of the northern Uí Néill in the Donegal area, indicating a migration of the family from Ireland to western Scotland in the early medieval period.
The earliest documented appearance of the name is in a charter of circa 1385, where Malcolm McPharlane is named as a witness in the “Highland Papers” during the reign of King Robert XI of Scotland (1371‑1390). Other early Scottish references include a 1395 charter by Duncan, Earl of Levenaux, for Duncan filius Malcolm Makfarlane, and a 1577 burgess admission of Andrew M'Farlane of Acharrick in Glasgow. Church register entries provide further evidence: the marriage of James MacFarlane and Elizabeth Robertson in Canongate, Midlothian (6 April 1706) and that of Duncan MacFarlane and Isobel Walker in Edinburgh (19 July 1767). In Ulster, a record from 12 December 1808 notes the marriage of Robert MacFarlane to Margery Anderson in Dungannon, County Tyrone, underscoring the name’s spread to Ireland.
The family coat of arms, commonly associated with bearers of the name, is described as a red saltire with wavy edges, flanked by four red roses on a silver shield. This heraldic symbol has been preserved in various Scottish and Irish armorial bearings and is frequently reproduced by modern descendants of the family.
In the United States the surname is most prevalent in Pennsylvania and New York, where it accounts for almost half of all bearers nationwide according to the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau. It ranks as the 12,772nd most common surname in the country and the 482nd most common in North America. The first known American record dates to 1678 in Dunoon, Scotland, and subsequent emigration has led to thousands of people carrying the name across the continent. Likewise, the name appears in Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand genealogical records, reflecting its broad diaspora.
Several variant spellings are found in historical documents, including MacFarlan, MacParland, MacPharlain, McFarlane, and McPharlane. The root of these variations lies in the Gaelic prefix Mac or its Anglicised counterpart Mc, meaning “son of”, combined with differing phonetic renderings of the personal name that the surname commemorates. Other forms such as MacFarlane, MacVarland, MacFarlane, and MacPharland appear in both Scottish parish registers and Irish civil documents.
Notable individuals bearing the surname include Sir Robert MacFarlane, a twelfth‑century Scottish king, and John MacFarland, a seventeenth‑century bishop of Brechin. In the modern era, Andrew MacFarland, an African‑American astronaut, is recognised as the first American of African descent to fly in space, as documented in contemporary space agency records. These figures illustrate the broad historical and cultural impact of families carrying the MacFarland name.
The MacFarland surname thus represents a lineage of considerable antiquity, with a clear patronymic origin in Gaelic culture. Its presence in Scotland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and North America highlights the migratory patterns of Gaelic peoples, while its heraldic traditions and distinguished bearers reinforce the enduring legacy of the name within the English‑speaking world.
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname MacFarland in...
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There are approximately 74 people named MacFarland in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around one in a million people in Britain are named MacFarland.
