The McPhillips surname may be of Scottish or Irish origin, the surname is found predominantly in Ireland, in
Cavan,
Fermanagh and
Monaghan counties. It is usually derived from the common surname Phillips.
Etymology and early Irish origins
The Christian name Philip was brought to Britain and Ireland by the
Normans in the 12th century and was soon gaelicised to Pilib. The surname is of
patronymic form and derives from the Gaelic Mac Pilib / Mac Philib, meaning "son of Philip",
The McPhillips surname was found to be the 31st most numerous in
County Monaghan in 1970. It is almost exclusive in
Dartry where it is the 7th most common surname.[5] In
Connacht,
Phillips is an
Anglicisation of
McPhilbin which is one of the
Hibernicised branches of the
Burke clan. The surname was used interchangeably with Mac Philib & McPhillips, but most later dropped the Mc/Mac prefix.[6][7][8]
Early Scottish origins
In
Scotland, different variations of the surname can be found in
Inverness-shire and
Argyllshire. The most common version is
McKillop, which can be represented in
Scottish Gaelic as MacFhilib and MacPhilip.
[9][8][10] The McPhillips surname is largely found in the
Scottish Lowlands around
Lanarkshire and
West Lothian, where the surname is the 37th most common surname; the 1841 Scotland Census records indicated that most were of Irish origin at that time.[11]