McLaughlin (surname) McLaughlin (surname) M(a)cLaughlin is the most common English form of "Mac Lochlainn", a masculine surname of Irish origin. The feminine form of the surname is "Nic Lochlainn". The literal meaning of the name is "son of "Lochlann"". Note that "Mc" is simply a contraction of "Mac", which is also (albeit rarely) truncated to "M' ". Thus, "MacLaughlin", "McLaughlin" and "M'Laughlin" are the same Anglicism, the latter two merely contractions of the first. The original surname Mac/Nic Lochlainn was borne by a family of Cenél nEógain, a branch of the historic northern O'Neill dynasty, reputedly founded by Niall Noígíallach. This family
Mac and Mc together dropped for some newer computer systems, and the interfiling of Mac and Mc names is an example, according to a 2006 book. There are in fact a number of options. In addition to sorting them under "Mac" and "Mc" respectively or choosing to sort them both under "Mc", it is known for Mc/Mac names to be placed in position before M. This topic has a complicated and disparate history, spread over different continents and relating to different areas of indexing, cataloguing and filing. The idea of a collating sequence itself has evolved, over time, and the "Mac and Mc" together