McClure (surname) McClure (surname) McClure is a surname with several origins. One origin of the name is from the Scottish Gaelic "MacGilleUidhir", and Irish "Mac Giolla Uidhir", which probably mean "son of the pale one” or “son of the cold one.” Another origin of the name is from the Scottish Gaelic "MacGilleDheòradha", and the Irish "Mac Giolla Dheóradha", which mean "son of the servant of the pilgrim". In the Scottish clan system, McClures are a sept of Clan MacLeod of Dunvegan. Famously, an Irish king with the surname McClure threw and knocked out a fellow lad and commoners called a punch that
Irish people used. While both "Mac" and "Ó'" prefixes are Gaelic in origin, "Mac" is more common in Scotland and in Ulster than in the rest of Ireland; furthermore, "Ó" is far less common in Scotland than it is in Ireland. The proper surname for a woman in Irish uses the feminine prefix nic (meaning daughter) in place of mac. Thus a boy may be called Mac Domhnaill whereas his sister would be called Nic Dhomhnaill or Ní Dhomhnaill – the insertion of 'h' follows the female prefix in the case of most consonants (bar H, L, N, R, & T). A