Mac

Mac means ‘son of’ in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, where it forms the first part of many surnames, such as MacDonald and MacGregor. As a given name it is usually a short form of such surnames or of names like Malcolm. MacBeth, written Macbeth in English, was a historical king of Scotland who ruled in the eleventh century and became the subject of Shakespeare’s tragedy. In North America, ‘Mac’ has also served as an informal way of addressing a man.