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
McLaughlin (surname) and M(a)cLoughlin are rarely English forms of the surname "ó/ní Lachtna", a phonetic corruption of the much more common "Loughney" or "M(a)cLoughney". Unlike Irish surnames that have only one Gaelic source for their English form, it is not possible to tell by the spelling "McLaughlin" and other English spellings whether the person bearing the name is descended from the "Mac/Nic Lochlainn" family, the "Ó/Ní M(h)ǽilsheáchlainn" family, or the "Ó/Ní Lachtna" family. [[Category:Anglicised Scottish Gaelic-language surnames]] [[Category:Anglicised Irish-language surnames]] [[Category:Surnames of Ulster-Scottish origin]] [[Category:Patronymic surnames]] McLaughlin (surname) M(a)cLaughlin is the most common English form of "Mac Lochlainn", a masculine surname of