Mac Torcaill is a masculine

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

in the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. The name translates into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as "son of '' Torcall''". The surname originated as a

patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

, however it no longer refers to the actual name of the bearer's father. The form ''Nic Thorcaill'' is borne by unmarried females; the forms ''Bean Mhic Thorcaill'' and ''Mhic Thorcaill'' are borne by married females. Variant forms of ''Mac Torcaill'' are ''Mac Thorcaill'' and ''Mac Thurcaill''; the feminine forms of these two names are ''Nic Thorcaill'', ''Nic Thurcaill'', ''Bean Mhic Thorcaill'', ''Bean Mhic Thurcaill'', ''Mhic Thorcaill'', and ''Mhic Thurcaill''. All these Irish surnames have various

Anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

forms.

Etymology

''Mac Torcaill'' translates into English as "son of '' Torcall''". Variant forms of the surname include ''Mac Thorcaill'', which is a transcription of: and ''Mac Thurcaill''. which is a transcription of: These surnames originated as

s, however they no longer refer to the actual name of the bearer's father. The name ''Torcall'' is a

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

derivative of the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

''Þórkell'', which is a shortened form of ''Þorketill''.

Feminine forms

''Mac Torcaill'', ''Mac Thorcaill'', and ''Mac Thurcaill'' are masculine surnames. The form of ''Mac Torcaill'' and ''Mac Thorcaill'' for unmarried females is ''Nic Thorcaill'', whereas the feminine form of ''Mac Thurcaill'' is ''Nic Thurcaill''; these names translate into English as "daughter of the son of ''Torcall''. The forms of ''Mac Torcaill'' and ''Mac Thorcaill'' for married females is ''Bean Mhic Thorcaill'', whereas the feminine form of ''Mac Thurcaill'' is ''Bean Mhic Thurcaill''; these particular feminine names can also be rendered simply as ''Mhic Thorcaill'' and ''Mhic Thurcaill''; these four surnames translate to "wife of the son of ''Torcall''.

Anglicised forms

''Mac Torcaill'' has been Anglicised variously as '' Thurkell'', '' Thurkill'', '' Thirkell'', and '' Thurkle''. which is a transcription of: ''Mac Thorcaill'' and ''Mac Thurcaill'' has been Anglicised as '' MacCorkill'', '' MacCorkell'', '' MacCorrikle'', '' MacCorkle'', and '' Corkhill''.

Families

According to Patrick Woulfe, Irish families with the surname are probably of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

origin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Torcaill Irish-language masculine surnames Surnames Irish families Surnames of Irish origin Irish-language surnames Patronymic surnames Surnames from given names