MacDonnell (surname)
family name
MacDonnell, Macdonnell, or McDonnell is a surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It is an anglicized form of the Gaelic patronymic Mac Dhòmhnaill, meaning "son of Dòmhnall". The Gaelic personal name Dòmhnall is a Gaelicised form of the name Donald, which is composed of the elements domno, meaning "world", and val, meaning "might" or "rule". The name is considered a variation of MacDonald.
MacDonnells are found in both Scottish and Irish nobility, where they have held an important role in the history of both countries.
A
Alasdair McDonnell (born 1949), Northern Irish politician and MP from Cushendall
Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell (1725–1761), Scottish chief of Glengarry, secret agent and spy on Prince Charles Edward after 1750
Alexander McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim (1935–2021), British peer from Northern Ireland
Alexander McDonnell (chess player) (1798–1835), Irish chess master
Alexander McDonnell (engineer) (1829–1904), Irish locomotive designer and Chief Mechanical Engineer
Sir Alexander McDonnell, 1st Baronet (1794–1875), Anglo-Irish civil servant, commissioner of national education in Ireland
Andy McDonell (1882–1942), Australian rules footballer
Andy McDonnell (born 1990/1991), Gaelic footballer
Angus McDonnell (1881–1966), English politician and MP from Dartford
Antony MacDonnell, 1st Baron MacDonnell (1844–1925), Irish-born British politician, involved in the administration of India
B
Bernard C. McDonnell (1911–1959), New York assemblyman
Bob McDonnell (born 1954), governor of Virginia; American politician
Barry McDonnell (born 1944), Lord of Glencoe, Scotland
C
Charles James McDonnell (1928-2020), American Roman Catholic bishop
Charlotte McDonnell British musician and YouTube personality (charlieissocoollike, formerly Charlie McDonnell)
Clare McDonnell (born 1967), English radio broadcaster and presenter
Clark W. McDonnell (1870–1952), American politician from North Dakota
D
Dan McDonnell (born c. 1970), American college baseball coach
E
E. T. MacDonnell (fl. 1917–1918), American college football coach at Wake Forest University
Eugene McDonnell (1926–2010), American programming language designer
F
Lady Flora McDonnell (born 1963), artist, illustrator, and author of children's books; daughter of Alexander McDonnell
G
George Alcock MacDonnell (1830–1899), Irish chess master
George Macdonell (British Army officer) (1780–1870), British Army officer
Grady McDonnell (born 2008), Irish-Canadian footballer
H
Howard McDonnell (1909-1992), American politician from Mississippi
Harold McDonell. (1882-1965) English cricketer
J
James MacDonnell (1884–1973), Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician from Ontario
James MacKerras Macdonnell (1884–1973), Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian from Ontario
James Macdonnell (1781–1857), Scottish military officer; fought at the Battle of Waterloo
James Smith McDonnell (1899–1980), American businessman and aviation pioneer; founder of McDonnell Aircraft, later McDonnell-Douglas
James McDonnell (born 1961), American musician better known as Slim Jim Phantom
Joe McDonnell (ice hockey) (born 1961), Canadian professional ice hockey player
Joe McDonnell (rugby player) (born 1973), New Zealand rugby union player
Joe McDonnell (hunger striker) (1951–1981), Irish member of the Provisional IRA; died in IRA hunger strike
John McDonnell (businessman) (born 1938), American aviation businessman, son of James Smith McDonnell
John McDonnell (coach) (1938–2021), Irish-American college football coach
John McDonnell (footballer) (born 1965), Irish football manager
John McDonnell (politician) (born 1951), British politician and MP
Johnny McDonnell (fl. 1908–1912), Irish footballer
K
Kyle MacDonnell (c.
“MacDonnell (surname)” enters the record as family name. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what MacDonnell, surname and family can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“MacDonnell (surname)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, MacDonnell, surname and family provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q21511109. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1949, 1725, 1761 and 1750.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “MacDonnell (surname)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.