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.
McLaughlin (surname) and M(a)cLoughlin are rarely English forms of the surname "ó/ní Lachtna", a phonetic corruption of the much more common "Loughney" or "M(a)cLoughney". Unlike Irish surnames that have only one Gaelic source for their English form, it is not possible to tell by the spelling "McLaughlin" and other English spellings whether the person bearing the name is descended from the "Mac/Nic Lochlainn" family, the "Ó/Ní M(h)ǽilsheáchlainn" family, or the "Ó/Ní Lachtna" family. [[Category:Anglicised Scottish Gaelic-language surnames]] [[Category:Anglicised Irish-language surnames]] [[Category:Surnames of Ulster-Scottish origin]] [[Category:Patronymic surnames]] McLaughlin (surname) M(a)cLaughlin is the most common English form of "Mac Lochlainn", a masculine surname of