MacNeil: Last Name Origin and Family Crest

In parish registers, MacNeil often stands in for MacNeill. Its meaning, shared with MacNeill, is “Descendant of Niall”.

• You may also find the name written McNeill.
• Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: McNeal.
• MacNeil ranked 10,653 in the 2010 US Census, with 3,003 people answering to the name.
• Without the “l” of MacNeill, MacNeil is a simpler written form of the same name.

Heraldry and the MacNeil name

A coat of arms belongs to a particular family line rather than to everyone named MacNeil, so the heraldry linked to MacNeill is a starting point, not an automatic right. Want more than a summary? See the MacNeil family name pack.