Patronymic was used by illegitimate royal children who were acknowledged as such by their fathers. The use of "Mac" in some form was prevalent in Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx, in all of which it denotes "son". "Mc" is also a frequent anglicisation in both Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, the forms "Mag" and "M'" are encountered. The prefix "Mac" is used to form a patronym, such as "Mac Coinnich" – or the anglicized 'Mackenzie' – son of Coinneach/Kenneth. The female equivalent of "Mac" is "Nic", condensed from "nighean mhic" (in Scottish Gaelic) or "iníon mhic" (in Irish), both meaning daughter.
Campbell (surname) derivation, from the surname Mac Cathmhaoil. Descendants of a famous war-leader ("Cathmhaoil" means "battle chief") took the surname, which was often pronounced "Cammel". This coincided with the pronunciation of the Scottish surname "Campbell", and was therefore anglicised to the same spelling. From this Irish surname, a number of derivations were derived including MacCawill, McCaul, MacCall, Caulfield, and of course Campbell. Campbell Killian famous Kiltormer man. Campbell (surname) Campbell is primarily a Scottish surname of Gaelic origins. In Scotland, the name itself derives from two Scottish Gaelic words. "Cam" (crooked) and "Beul" (mouth) meaning "Crooked mouth" or "wry-mouthed", originally a nickname