MCFAUL
Recorded variant spellings include Mc Faul, Mcfaul
McFaul is a surname of Gaelic and Latin provenance found principally within the British Isles and the descendants of those who have emigrated to the United States, Canada and other English‑speaking regions.
The surname derives from the Gaelic Mac Phàil, literally son of Paul. In this construction Mac denotes a patronymic form meaning son of, while Phàil is the genitive case of the personal name Paul, itself a Gaelicised form of the Latin Paulus, meaning small or humble. Consequently, McFaul can be understood as son of the small or son of the humble.
The name Paul, as it entered Gaelic usage, was closely associated with the early Christian figure of Saint Paul the Apostle, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. His conversion on the road to Damascus, within the first decade of the Common Era, positioned him as a central agent in the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Many other early Christian saints bore the name, lending it particular prestige and ensuring its continued transmission through the centuries.
Documentary evidence confirms the existence of the surname in the medieval period. The earliest surviving spelling is that of Gillemore M’Phale, recorded in the Book of the Thanes of Cawdor in 1414, during the reign of King James I of Scotland. Other examples appear in the late fifteenth century: Niven M’Phaill witnessed a charter at Sonnachan, Argyll in 1488, whilst Donald Makfaill appears as a witness to a 1492 contract of friendship between the Dunbar of Westfield and the Clanchattan family. In the early sixteenth century Sir John Mcfaell, referred to as a “pope’s knight”, was recorded in a bond of manrent in 1533.
From the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries the surname was noted in Church Registers in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. A birth record dated 29 August 1824 records Sarah Jane McFaul, daughter of William McFaul, at Ballymena. The 1846 records show Ann Mc Faul, a famine emigrant, embarking from Liverpool on the ship “Empire” bound for New York. These entries illustrate the spread of the name beyond Ireland as a consequence of the Great Famine and other economic pressures.
McFaul remains a relatively uncommon surname in its modern demographic contexts. In the United States it is most often found in Californian, Washington and Massachusetts populations, with its presence also measurable in Canadian and British records. Despite this distribution, the surname’s frequency stays low, reinforcing its characterisation as a rare family name.
Numerous spelling variants have evolved, reflecting regional dialects, transcription practices, and the anglicisation of Gaelic orthography. Notable variants include McFall, MacPhail, MacFall, McPhaul, McPaull and MacFauls among others. The differences arise both from the interchangeable use of the prefixes Mac and Mc—each meaning son of—and from attempts to phonetically render the original Gaelic pronunciation in English script.
In summary, the McFaul surname carries a lineage that traces back to a Gaelic patronymic, anchored in Latin nomenclature, and that has survived through centuries of sociopolitical change, migration and linguistic adaptation. Its endurance as a marker of family identity across continents attests to the resilience of the cultural and historical forces that shaped its origin.
Typical given names associated with the McFaul surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- Daniel
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Joseph
- Robert
- Sean
- Trevor
- William
Female
- Angela
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Fenella
- Hannah
- Janet
- Laura
- Margaret
- Mary
- Mina
- Patricia
- Rosemary
- Sarah
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 McFaul in...
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There are approximately 338 people named McFaul in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around five in a million people in Britain are named McFaul.
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 McFaul
- Willie McFaul - Northern Irish football player and manager
- James Augustine McFaul - Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton (1850 to 1917)
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.