Gaelic sept

McNelis

Mac Niallais

Also: MacNelis, McNellis, Nelis

“son of Niallas, a name formed on Niall, 'champion'”

🏔 Donegal · Dún na nGall Source: MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland (6th ed.) ↗

The sept's historic heartland, highlighted. People moved — a name can be found far from home.

The story

One of the older Donegal surnames, and a south-west Donegal one above all: common around Ardara, Killybegs, Kilcar, Carrick and Glencolumbkille, and uncommon enough elsewhere that it still places a family. It is also a name the free references do not carry — Woulfe's 1923 dictionary has no entry for it at all, and Wikipedia only a list of people — so this page follows MacLysaght, who is the standard modern authority and is in print rather than online. The Nial- in it is plainly the personal name Niall, but the rest of the form is less settled than we would like: Mac Niallais and Mac Niallghuis are both given, and we have not found a source that decides between them. The name reached us from a reader whose people are from Ardara.

Their world Around 1500 — The Kildare Ascendancy. The English crown is too poor to govern Ireland directly, so it governs through the greatest of the Geraldines instead.

See them on the atlas ↗

What the name is made of

Mac Niallais
Mac — son of (Mc is the same word, contracted)
Niallais — the ancestor, trade or place the name is built on

Find this form in the Irish-to-English index → · What Ó and Mac actually mean

Is McNelis an Irish name?

McNelis is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here.

The five answers, and why it is rarely yes or no →

Neighbours — other names from the same counties

Boyle · Donegal Breslin · Donegal Brogan · Donegal Cannon · Donegal Clarke · Donegal Curran · Donegal Doherty · Donegal Duffy · Donegal Gallagher · Donegal Gill · Donegal Magee · Donegal McBride · Donegal McFadden · Donegal McLoughlin · Donegal

Quick answers

Is McNelis an Irish name?

McNelis is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here. In Irish the name is Mac Niallais.

What does the surname McNelis mean?

McNelis (Irish: Mac Niallais) means “son of Niallas, a name formed on Niall, 'champion'”. Origin: Gaelic sept.

Where in Ireland is the surname McNelis from?

The historic homeland of the McNelis name is Donegal. People moved, so the name can be found far beyond it.

What is the Irish for McNelis?

Mac Niallais. Related spellings: MacNelis, McNellis, Nelis.

Looking for the McNelis family crest? Read this first — arms belong to people, not surnames, and the honest version is more interesting. Tracing McNelis ancestors? The step-by-step guide.

Not your spelling? Try the full A–Z. Know more about the McNelis name? Add to the story.