McPherson is a

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 ...

surname. It is an Anglicised form of the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

''Mac a' Phearsain'' and ''Mac a Phearsoin'', meaning "son of the

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

". Notable people with the surname include:

In sports

Adrian McPherson Adrian Jamal McPherson (born May 8, 1983) is an American former professional football quarterback. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL draft. He played college football at Florida State before being dism ...

, American football player * Archie McPherson (footballer), Scottish footballer * Bill McPherson (disambiguation), multiple people * Cheryl McPherson (born 1963), Canadian curler * Dallas McPherson, American baseball player * Daniel McPherson, Australian rules footballer * David McPherson (disambiguation), multiple people *

Don McPherson Donald G. McPherson (born April 2, 1965) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He spent seven seasons in the NFL and CFL with the Philadelp ...

, American academic and football player * Donald McPherson (figure skater), Canadian figure skater *

Evan McPherson Evan McPherson ; (born July 21, 1999) is an American professional football placekicker for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators before being drafted by the Bengals in th ...

(born 1999), American football player * James McPherson (cricketer), (1842–1891), Australian cricketer * John McPherson (disambiguation), multiple people *

Kristy McPherson Kristy McPherson (born May 28, 1981) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the LPGA Tour. Early life and amateur career A native of South Carolina, McPherson was diagnosed with Still's disease at age 11, which is a form of ...

, Professional golfer on the LPGA * Lachlan McPherson (born 1900), Scottish footballer * Robert McPherson (disambiguation), multiple people

In politics and law

Bruce McPherson Bruce A. McPherson (born January 7, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 30th California secretary of state from March 30, 2005, to January 7, 2007. He is currently a member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. As of 2024 ...

, American politician * Edward McPherson, American politician * Ewan McPherson, Canadian politician and judge * Harriet McPherson, American politician, farmer, and educator * Heather McPherson (politician) (born 1972), Canadian politician * James L. McPherson (1881–1951), Canadian politician *

Jim McPherson James McPherson was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1982 to 1986 sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus. Political career McPherson ran ...

, Canadian politician *

Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (1745 – 12 January 1821), was a British administrator in India. He was the acting Governor-General of Bengal from 1785 to 1786. Early life Macpherson was born in 1745 at Sleat in the Isle of Skye, where ...

, Governor-General of Bengal * Newton Leroy McPherson, birth name of

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

* Sean McPherson, American politician * Tom McPherson, American politician

In music

* Casey McPherson, American musician from

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

(

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

) * Charles McPherson, American saxophonist * Dave McPherson (musician), English

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

for rock band

InMe InMe are an English alternative rock/metal band originally formed in Brentwood, Essex in 1996. They have released seven studio albums, two EPs, one bootleg album, one best-of compilation, one live album, one live EP and an acoustic album. A ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

for metal band Centiment * Gordon McPherson, Scottish

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

* Graham McPherson (better known as

Suggs Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is a British singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the ska band Madness, which ...

), British

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

of the second-wave ska band Madness * Greg McPherson, English singer and guitarist for metal band Centiment and

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

for rock band InMe * JD McPherson, American musician * Naomi McPherson, American

and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

for alternative band MUNA and, also, Charles McPherson's grandchild

In the military

* Andrew McPherson (RAF officer), Scottish World War II pilot *

James B. McPherson James Birdseye McPherson (/məkˈfərsən/) (November 14, 1828 – July 22, 1864) was a career United States Army officer who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. McPherson was on the general staff of Henr ...

, an American general of the Union Army during the American Civil War * Stewart McPherson (VC), a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross

In theatre and literature

* Anna Talbott McPherson, American biographer and illustrator *

Conor McPherson Conor McPherson (born 6 August 1971) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director of stage and film. In recognition of his contribution to world theatre, McPherson was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature in June 2013 by University C ...

, Irish playwright and director * Heather McPherson (poet) (1942–2017), New Zealand feminist poet, publisher and editor * James Alan McPherson, American novelist and short story writer * James M. McPherson, American Civil War author and historian at Princeton University * John Macpherson (minister), Scottish minister and antiquarian * Neil McPherson (artistic director), British theatre director * Rosamond McPherson "Roz" Young (1912–2005), American columnist, author, educator and historian

In business

* Lydia Starr McPherson (1827–1903), American newspaper writer, editor, and founder *

William McPherson Allen William McPherson Allen (September 1, 1900 – October 28, 1985) was an American businessman in the aviation industry who served as the President of Boeing from 1945 to 1968. Life and career Born in Lolo, Montana, he attended the University of ...

, president of the Boeing Company from 1945 to 1970

Others

Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy; October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian-born American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Evangelism, evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920 ...

, American evangelist in the 1920s and 1930s * Anna McPherson, Canadian physicist * Lisa McPherson, scientologist who died while in the care of the Church of Scientology *

Stewart McPherson (geographer) Stewart Robin McPherson (born 1 January 1983) is a British geographer, Botany, field biologist, nature photographer, and writer.McPherson, S.R. 2009. ''Pitcher Plants of the Old World''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. Background Bo ...

, British geographer

References

{{surname, McPherson English-language surnames Anglicised Scottish Gaelic-language surnames Surnames of Scottish origin Patronymic surnames Occupational surnames