McCabe (surname) McCabe (surname) The surnames McCabe and MacCabe are Scottish and Irish surnames. They are Anglicisations of the Gaelic Mac Cába, a patronymic name meaning "son of "Cába"". The nickname or personal name "Cába" is of uncertain origin. The surname can be written in modern Scottish Gaelic as MacCàba and MacCaibe. Patrick Woulfe considered that the surname was possibly derived from a nickname, meaning "a cap", or "hood". Henry Harrison suggested the name was from the Gaelic "Mac Aba", meaning "son of the Abbot". If Harrison is to be believed then the surname would have a similar etymology as the surnames
Mac Amhalghaidh "Nic Amhalghaidh". This feminine surname is actually a contracted form of "iníon Mhic Amhalghaidh", which translates into English as "daughter of "Mac Amhalghaidh"". The form of the surname for married females is "Bean Mhic Amhalghaidh", which translates into English as "wife of "Mac Amhalghaidh""; this feminine surname can also be represented in the contracted form "Mhic Amhalghaidh". A cognate of the Irish "Mac Amhalghaidh" is the Scottish Gaelic "MacAmhalghaidh". The feminine form of this Scottish Gaelic surname is "NicAmhalghaidh". This feminine name is composed of the prefix "Nic-", which is an abbreviated form of the Scottish Gaelic "nighean mhic" or