Find out how popular the last name Macal is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Macal.

Macal, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Macal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Macal in America

Macal is the 51830th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Macal surname appeared 401 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Macal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Macal to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Macal

The surname MACAL is believed to have originated in Ireland. It is thought to be derived from the Irish Gaelic prefix "Mac" meaning "son of" and the personal name "Cail" or "Ceal", which may have been a diminutive form of an old Irish name like Cathal or Ceallach.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name MACAL can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. It references a man named Macail Ua Lorcain, who was a poet from County Donegal in the 12th century.

The MACAL surname is also found in some old land records and rental rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in counties like Donegal, Sligo, and Mayo in the northwest of Ireland. This suggests that the name was well-established in that region during that time period.

One notable bearer of the MACAL surname was Patrick MACAL, a 17th century Irish soldier and Jacobite who fought in the Williamite War in Ireland between 1689-1691. He was born around 1650 in County Sligo.

Another early example is John MACAL, who was born in County Donegal around 1720. He was an Irish historian and author who wrote several works on the history and antiquities of Ulster.

In the 19th century, there was a Bernard MACAL, born in 1812 in County Mayo, who was a prominent Catholic priest and educator. He helped establish several schools in the west of Ireland.

One of the earliest recorded spellings of the name in its more modern form of MACAL can be found in the 1659 Petty's Census of Ireland, which lists a Teige MACAL residing in the parish of Dromore, County Donegal.

While the MACAL surname is relatively uncommon today, it retains its strongest roots and historical connections in the northwestern counties of Ireland where it first appeared centuries ago.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Macal

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Macal.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Macal was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Macal has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Macal was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Macal, please contact us.

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