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.
McLoughlin McLoughlin McLoughlin is one of nearly two dozen Anglicisms for three Gaelic-Irish surnames: Mac/Nic Lochlainn (most commonly Anglicised "McLaughlin"), Ó/Ni Máoilsheáchlainn (usually "McLoughlin" or "M'Loughlin"), and Mac/Nic Lochnaigh (usually rendered Loughney but occasionally "McLoughlin" or "MacLoughlin"). "Mac" and "Ó" are masculine prefixes; "Ni/Nic" is feminine. Mac is rendered into English as "Mac", "Mc" and "M"'. Ó is rendered "O' ". The feminine prefix is rendered into English according to its masculine counterpart (e.g. Nic na Mhara > McNamara, Ni hEaghra > O'Hara). They are used with names that originated as patronymics. Occasionally, the prefix "Mael/Maol" is Anglicised "Mac/Mc". The surname