Neil "Neil" is a reduced form of the surname "McNeil" (from the Gaelic "Mac Néill", "son of "Niall""), or variant form the surname of Neill (from the Irish "Ó Néill" or the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Néill", meaning "descendant of "Niall"" and "son of "Niall"". The name passed from Ireland to Scotland where it had the "Mc/Mac" prefix. Some Scottish McNeill's returned to Ireland in the 14th century and are associated with "MacNeill", "MacGreal", "MacReill", and "Mag Reil" surnames. The Manx version of the name is "Kneal" (1598), "Kneale" (1655), or "Kneel" (1636). It evolved from McNelle (1408) and MacNeyll (1430) becoming
Mac and Mc together in print two publications on filing rules, one covering that "word-by-word" convention, and another prepared in 1980 that is "letter-by-letter". A 1998 book attributes the changes to the rules to computer informatics, and notes the Mac/Mc change as its first example. 1982's "Scottish Roots", a guide for family history researchers, warns that older Scottish records do not in fact follow this convention, unlike contemporary telephone directories. A 2001 book of "New York Times" theatre reviews sorts Mc names as if spelled Mac. A 2002 official document for the State of Vermont recommends explicitly no special treatment for Mac and Mc.