MacAskill, also spelt Macaskill and McCaskill is a
surname. It is an
Anglicisation of the
GaelicMac Asgaill, meaning "son of Asgall". The Gaelic name Asgall is a reduced form of the
Old Norsepersonal nameÁsketill, son of Torquil. Asketil was the last Viking King of Dublin, Ireland. He died circa 1171-2, resisting the English invaders of Ireland under King Henry II. He had placed his family under the protection of the Norse King of Man, and his grandson, Gilbert MacAsgaill, led a party sent by the King of Man to occupy and hold Dunscaith Castle, on the Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye. These are the first members of the name we can find in Scotland.[1][2] The name is borne by a noted family on
Skye, the MacAskills of
Rubha an Dùnain, who historically
followed the
MacLeods of Dunvegan, possibly serving them as early as the fourteenth century (although documentation is lacking).[3] In Gaelic the MacAskills are known as Clann t-Ascaill,[4] and Clann t-Asgaill.[5] In
Scottish Gaelic, the surname is rendered MacAsgaill.[6] In
Irish, the surname is rendered Mac Ascaill.[7] Early forms of the name on record in Scotland are Mackaiscail (in 1766), Mackaiscal (in 1769), and Macaiskill (in 1790).[8] An early form of the name in England is Mac A skil (in 1311).[9]
Notable persons with the name include:
Angus MacAskill (1825–1863), Scottish born Canadian giant Gael, the tallest non-pathological giant and the strongest man who ever lived according to the Guinness book of world records [10][11][12][13][14]
Martin, C (2014). "A Maritime Dominion — Sea-Power and the Lordship". In
Oram, RD (ed.). The Lordship of the Isles. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures (series vol. 68). Leiden:
Brill. pp. 176–199.
doi:
10.1163/9789004280359_009.
ISBN978-90-04-28035-9.
ISSN1569-1462.
This page lists people with the
surnameMacAskill. If an
internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that
link by adding the person's
given name(s) to the link.