MacDonald vs McDonald, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“MacDonald” and “McDonald” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,413
“MacDonald” frequency rank: #10,083
“McDonald” frequency rank: 21496
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	MacDonald	McDonald
Definition	A surname from Scottish Gaelic common in Scotland.	A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set MacDonald and McDonald apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

MacDonald

8 ch

McDonald

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. MacDonald and McDonald are pronounced identically (/məkˈdɒnəld/) and both work as aname. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

MacDonald is recorded at frequency rank #11,413, classified as aname, pronounced /məkˈdɒnəld/. McDonald is at rank #10,083, tagged as aname, pronounced /məkˈdɒnəld/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 21496, this pair ranks #423,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of MacDonald vs McDonald

Shared letters: acdlmno. Private to "MacDonald": -. Private to "McDonald": -.

"MacDonald" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC · "McDonald" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

MacDonald ← amcdonald · maccdonald · macddonald · macdnoald · macdoanld · macdonadl · macdonaldd · macdonalld
McDonald ← cmdonald · mccdonald · mcddonald · mcdnoald · mcdoanld · mcdonadl · mcdonaldd · mcdonalld

Frequency comparison

MacDonald#11,413

McDonald#10,083

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "MacDonald" and "McDonald" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (/məkˈdɒnəld/), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "MacDonald" or "McDonald"?

"McDonald" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,083 in our English list, against #11,413 for "MacDonald". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering MacDonald vs McDonald

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “MacDonald” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable