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.
O'Hare (surname) an English surname, or at least an English version of their Irish surname, therefore many removed the 'Mac' or 'O' from their surname. However The O'Hehir and O'Hare families did not drop the 'O', nor did they adopt an English version of their surnames. As a result, they would have had to endure extreme hardship and suffering because of such opposition. (The creation of societies such as the Gaelic League in the late 19th Century resulted in the widespread resumption of the 'Mac' and 'O' prefixes to many Irish surnames.) People with the surname O'Hare: O'Hare (surname) "'O'Hare" is the