English
The surname McMullen is of Scottish origin. The name is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Mac Maolain, a patronymic from the byname 'Maolan', a diminutive of 'maol', bald, tonsured.The name normally referred to a wearer of the tonsure, and, in a transferred sense, to a devotee of a particular saint. The clan MacMillan had possessions near Knap, Loch Suibne, and a boulder on the shore is said to have engraved on it in Gaelic their claim or charter to the lands: 'Coir Mhic-Mhaoilein air a Chnap, Fhad's a bhuaileas tonn air creig', ( Macmillan's right to Knap while wave strikes rock ). If so 'all vestige of it is worn away. This is believed to be not entirely owing to wind and weather, but to the effacing chisels of Clan Campbell, who ere long acquired the lands of their hereditary foes'. A scottish bearer of this name, a Patrick Macmillan of Glasgow, 'patented' a tartan which he registered as Breacanseilgmhicgillemheoil! The name dates back to the fourteenth century were a John Macmakmylan is recorded in historical archives. The name was brought to America by Scottish immigrants. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a Duncan Bain Macmillan, formerly of Lochaber, Inverness-shire, Scotland, who settled in Finch, Stormont County. This name is the five-hundredth and seventh most numerous surname in America.