McAllister (surname) has many different spellings due to immigration. Some of the common spellings are McAllister (surname) McAllister is a surname from Scotland and Ireland that originates from the Gaelic name Mac Alasdair, meaning son of God. Alasdair is the Gaelic form of the first name Alexander. The Mc Alisters for the greater part owe their ancestry to the Scottish clan of the Mac Donalds. The name is derived from the personal name Alexander. The Mc Alisters arrived in Ulster as Gallowglasses at the invitation of the MacDonnell's. Today the greatest numbers of the name are to be found in counties Antrim,
McCabe (surname) "MacNab", "McNab", which are from the Gaelic "Mac an Aba", "Mac an Abadh". Bearers of the surname are considered to have settled in Ireland from the Western Isles of Scotland sometime around 1350, employed as gallowglass (mercenary soldiers) to the O'Reillys and O'Rourkes which were the principal septs of Breffny. According to a pedigree written by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, the MacCabes descend from the MacLeods. In time the MacCabes became a recognised Irish sept, with the chieftain being called "Constable of the two Breffnys". According to MacLysaght in the mid 20th century, statistics then showed that the surname was more