Mcdowall

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Scottish family name of Gaelic origin, carried by people with ancestry in Scotland and elsewhere
2. A surname of Scottish origin, found in families whose roots lie in Scotland and in the wider diaspora
3. The name of a Scottish family, derived from Gaelic roots and passed down through generations

Etymology: "McDowall" is a Scottish surname rather than a common noun, and it comes from the Gaelic "Mac Dhubhghaill", meaning "son of Dubhghall." The personal name Dubhghall combines "dubh", meaning dark, and "gall", meaning foreigner. In Gaelic usage "gall" was applied to Scandinavian settlers, and the pair "dubh-gall" ("dark foreigners") was set against "fionn-gall" ("fair foreigners"), which seems to have distinguished Danes from Norwegians. The name was later anglicized, and the Dubhghall of the original name was often rendered as "Dougal" or "Dugald". The surname is especially associated with the MacDowalls of Galloway, a family whose lands at Garthland gave them a long hold in south-west Scotland.