Etymograph

English

McCormick

McCormick comes from gd,ga Mac Cormaic, from Old Irish macc ‘son’, and ultimately from Proto-Celtic *makʷos.

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*makʷos‘son’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celtic, derivedc. 1300–800 BCE*makkʷosroot as named · steps between not tracedvariant of *makʷos
  3. Primitive Irishmodernᚋᚐᚊᚔ
  4. Old Irishc. 600–900macc‘son’
  5. Old Irish, derivedc. 600–900Cormac
  6. gd,gamodernMac Cormaicliterally ‘son of Cormac’
  7. EnglishtodayMcCormick

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*makʷos‘son’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Celtic, derivedc. 1300–800 BCE*makkʷosroot as named · steps between not tracedvariant of *makʷos
  3. Primitive Irishmodernᚋᚐᚊᚔ
  4. Old Irishc. 600–900macc‘son’
  5. Old Irish, derivedc. 600–900Cormac
  6. gd,gamodernMac Cormaicliterally ‘son of Cormac’
  7. EnglishtodayMcCormick

The story

From Scottish Gaelic and Irish Mac Cormaic (literally “son of Cormac”), from Old Irish Cormac, Corbmac, which is itself from corb (‘chariot’) + mac (‘son’). The double patronymic "arose when the meaning of Cormac began to be lost sight of". Many books of baby names also connect the name to an Irish word for "raven".

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ḱ- ‘to raise, increase’

macro, machete, meager, meagre, 14 more

Today it means

name A surname.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *makʷos / McCormick

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