MCCUE
Recorded variant spellings include Mc Cue, Mccue
McCue is a surname of Gaelic origin, borne mainly by families that trace their ancestry to the ancient Celtic peoples of the British Isles.
The name is an anglicised form of the Old Gaelic Mac Aodha, in which the prefix Mac means son of and the personal name Aodh, derived from the Celtic god of fire and sun, translates as fire or fiery. Consequently, McCue can be understood to mean son of Aodh, i.e. son of Hugh in its most common English rendering.
Orthographic variation has been frequent, as noted in medieval receipts and parish registers. Early forms such as MacHugh appear in the Irish Annals of Clonmacnois in 1313 when Malachy MacHugh became Archbishop of Tuam. Later records include Mak Hu in County Cork (1647), McKew in County Derry (1694), and a 14th‑century Scottish Exchequer roll entry for Gilchrist M'Ay (1326). These variations illustrate the fluid nature of surname transcription prior to the standardisation of spelling in the nineteenth century.
Geographically, the surname is most strongly associated with the province of Ulster, especially the counties of Fermanagh and Tyrone. It is also found in County Donegal, where the name has been recorded in parish deeds as early as the fourteenth century, and in other parts of the British Isles where Irish emigrants settled.
There are many anglicised variants that share the same root: McHugh, MacHugh, McGee, MacKay, McKee, McCoy, McGhie, McCue, McAy, M'Kew, McKea, and a number of less common spellings such as MacKew and MacCue. Some forms drop the prefix altogether, giving rise to surnames such as Hugh or Hughes.
During the Great Famine of the mid‑nineteenth century a large number of families bearing the surname McCue emigrated to North America, Australia and other parts of the globe. Today the name remains most common in Ireland, the United States and Australia, with sizeable communities recognised within the broader Irish diaspora.
Modern bearers of the surname are often linked to a shared heritage that can be traced back to the ancient kingdom of Dalriada and the clan of Clann Aodha Buidhe. Genealogical research typically confirms connections to these early septs, tracing lineages through parish rolls, land grants and other primary records that record the evolution of spelling and geographic movement over the centuries.
Typical given names associated with the McCue surname
Male
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Alison
- Anne
- Carol
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Joanne
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Maureen
- Michelle
- Nicola
- Susan
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 McCue in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 2,320 people named McCue in the UK. That makes it roughly the 3,718th most common surname in Britain. Around 36 in a million people in Britain are named McCue.
Surname type: From name of parent
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Ireland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
Famous people named McCue
- James McCue - Scottish professional football player
- Alec McCue - Football player (1927 to 1)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.