Maclaine
Derived from the Scottish surname, a Gaelic name potentially meaning "son of the servant".
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the first name Maclaine. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Maclaine today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maclaine births was 2000 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maclaine. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
131
~ 1 in 2,616,445 Americans
Peak year
2000
18 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2011 SSA rank
#13,577
Tracked since 1995
Census
Maclaine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 214 people with the first name Maclaine, which placed it at #36,840 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#36,840
National first-name rank
People counted
214
214 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maclaine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maclaine is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Maclaine described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Maclaine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.8% · 190
- Two or more races3.7% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 6
- Black or African American1.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Maclaine
Maclaine leans heavily female at 85.7% of total registrations, but 19 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Maclaine as a male name
- Ranked #13,577 in 2011
- 5 male births in 2011
- Peak: 2000 (9 births)
Maclaine as a female name
- Ranked #14,515 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Maclaine on both sides of the split. Of the 210 people counted with this name, 62 were male (29.5%) and 148 were female (70.5%).
Popularity
Maclaine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maclaine from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maclaine by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Maclaine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Maclaine
The given name Maclaine has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, specifically from the territories of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. It is derived from the Gaelic word "mac" meaning "son" and the name "Gille Fhionndain" which translates to "servant of St. Findan". This name was likely coined during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
Historically, the name Maclaine was associated with the Clan Maclaine, a prominent Scottish clan from the Hebrides Islands off the west coast of Scotland. The Clan Maclaine was known for their naval prowess and their influential role in the region's history. The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to the 13th century, when a certain Gilleain na Tuaidh, meaning "Gillian of the North", is mentioned in Scottish records.
One notable bearer of the name Maclaine was Lachlan Maclaine (1566-1623), a prominent Scottish clan chief and warrior who played a significant role in the battles between the MacDonalds and the MacLeans during the Scottish clan feuds. Another notable figure was Sir Lachlan Mor Maclaine (1610-1674), who fought for the Royalist cause during the English Civil War and was knighted by King Charles II.
In the realm of literature, the name Maclaine appears in Walter Scott's novel "The Lord of the Isles" (1815), where one of the characters is named Maclaine of Lochbuie. This highlights the historical significance of the name and its association with the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
Beyond Scotland, the name Maclaine has also been found in Ireland, where it is sometimes spelled as "MacLaine" or "McLaine". One notable Irish bearer of the name was William MacLaine (1617-1705), a Presbyterian minister and author who wrote extensively on religious topics.
Another individual of note was John Maclaine (1719-1786), a Scottish-American politician and merchant who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Scotland but later settled in North Carolina, where he played an influential role in the state's politics.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the given name Maclaine, highlighting its rich heritage and deep roots in Scottish and Irish culture.
People
Maclaine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maclaine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Maclaine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maclaine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 131 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maclaine going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,616,445 US residents.
Is Maclaine a common name?
We classify Maclaine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 133 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maclaine most popular?
The single biggest year for Maclaine was 2000, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maclaine is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maclaine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 214 people with the name Maclaine, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,840 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Maclaine in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Maclaine?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Maclaine on both sides of the split. Of the 210 people counted with this name, 62 were male (29.5%) and 148 were female (70.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Maclaine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maclaine is White at 88.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Maclaine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Maclaine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (190 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Maclaine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maclaine a female name?
Yes, 85.7% of people registered as Maclaine in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Maclaine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maclaine in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Maclaine can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Maclaine as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.