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

McCall, 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 McCall surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of McCall in America

McCall is the 794th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The McCall surname appeared 43,483 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 15 people would have the surname McCall.

We can also compare 2010 data for McCall 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 McCall

The surname McCall has its origins in Scotland, emerging in the 12th century. It is derived from the Gaelic 'Mac Cail', which means 'son of Cail'. Cail was an old personal name that was relatively common in medieval Scotland.

The name McCall first appeared in Argyllshire, a historic county in western Scotland. Over time, it spread to other regions of Scotland and Ireland. Variations in spelling emerged, including MacCall, MacCaull, and MacCaul.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a collection of homage renderings to King Edward I of England. The entry "Gillecrist Makkal" likely refers to a bearer of the name McCall.

In the 16th century, a notable figure was John McCall (c.1522-1586), a Scottish prelate who served as Bishop of Galloway. Around the same time, the McCall family established themselves as landowners in the Parish of Carsphairn in Kirkcudbrightshire.

Another prominent McCall was Sir Mungo McCall (1603-1674), a Scottish lawyer and judge who served as Lord Advocate of Scotland from 1641 to 1660. He played a significant role in the political and legal affairs of Scotland during the turbulent years of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

In the 18th century, Hugh McCall (1737-1824) was a Scottish-born American merchant and politician who served as a member of the Georgia State Assembly. He was also a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1785.

A more recent figure was John McCall (1849-1920), a Scottish-born American businessman and philanthropist. He co-founded the New York Life Insurance Company and made significant contributions to various educational and charitable institutions in New York City.

The surname McCall has also been associated with several place names in Scotland, such as McCall's Hill in Dumfries and Galloway, and McCall's Bridge in Aberdeenshire. These place names likely derived from individuals with the surname McCall who resided in or owned land in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name McCall

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

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 McCall 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 McCall 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 McCall was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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