Mcclain
Anglicized form of Scottish surname meaning "son of the servant".
Name Census estimates that about 532 living Americans carry the first name Mcclain. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Mcclain today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mcclain births was 2023 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mcclain. 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
532
~ 1 in 644,275 Americans
Peak year
2023
28 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,567
Tracked since 1918
Gender
Gender distribution for Mcclain
Mcclain leans heavily male at 84.9% of total registrations, but 84 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mcclain as a male name
- Ranked #5,567 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (21 births)
Mcclain as a female name
- Ranked #11,743 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (11 births)
Popularity
Mcclain: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mcclain from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 148 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mcclain 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 Mcclain 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 Mcclain
The given name Mcclain has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, stemming from the clan name MacLean, which is derived from the Gaelic words 'mac' meaning son, and 'laomuinn' meaning servant or follower of Saint John. The name gained prominence in the medieval era, particularly in the western regions of Scotland, where the MacLean clan held significant influence and territory.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 13th century, where members of the MacLean clan were mentioned in Scottish historical records and charters. One notable figure from this period was Gillean of the Battlered, a renowned warrior and chieftain of the MacLean clan, who played a pivotal role in the clan's conflicts and power struggles during the 13th century.
As the name spread beyond Scotland, it underwent various spellings and adaptations, including McClain, MacClain, and the anglicized version, McClane. Notably, the name appears in the ancient Gaelic manuscript, the Book of Deer, which dates back to the 9th or 10th century, indicating its long-standing presence in Scottish culture and history.
Throughout history, several individuals bearing the name Mcclain have left their mark across various fields. Alney Mcclain (1853-1932), an American politician and lawyer, served as a U.S. Representative from Mississippi. Wilbur McClain (1890-1949), an American academic and legal scholar, made significant contributions to the field of tort law and served as the dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law.
In the realm of sports, Gene McClain (1937-2008) was an American professional baseball player who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds in the 1960s. Melvin McClain (born 1962) is a former professional basketball player who played in the NBA for teams like the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers in the 1980s and 1990s.
The name also has a notable presence in the arts, with Barrie Mcclain (1935-2015), an American actress known for her roles in films and television shows like "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Cheers." Additionally, Mcclain has been a popular middle name, as seen in the case of the renowned American writer and journalist, William Mcclain Kennedy (1928-2016).
People
Mcclain + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mcclain 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
Mcclain: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mcclain?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 532 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mcclain 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 644,275 US residents.
Is Mcclain a common name?
We classify Mcclain as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 558 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mcclain most popular?
The single biggest year for Mcclain was 2023, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mcclain is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mcclain a male name?
Yes, 84.9% of people registered as Mcclain in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.