Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Irish and Scottish : Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Brighde (Irish) or Mac Gille Brighde (Scottish) ‘son of the servant of (Saint) Brigit’, more often Anglicized as McBride. The name Brighid (modern Brigit) means ‘exalted’. Brighid was probably originally a pagan fire goddess, many of whose attributes became attached to the historical figure of St. Brigit of Kildare (452–523), founder of the first Irish convent.
  • Scottish : habitational name from any of the various places with this name, from Gaelic cill Bríghde ‘church of St. Brigit’ (cill being from Latin cella ‘room’, ‘cell’).