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Macaulay

Boy name · 111 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Macaulay: 111 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to boys, peaking at 14 births in 1995.

Of Irish and Scottish Gaelic origin, Macaulay is a surname-turned-first-name meaning “son of righteousness” or “son of the Cal” (from the Old Gaelic *Máel Coluim*). Though famously borne by child star Macaulay Culkin of *Home Alone* fame, its most significant bearer is perhaps the 19th-century British historian and politician Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose writings shaped India’s educational system. The name also echoes through the Scottish clan MacAulay of Lewis, and the town of Macaulay in New Zealand was named after a colonial settler. A less common spelling is McAulay, and the name gained modern traction as a given name in Scotland primarily from the 1990s onward, tied closely to Culkin’s film legacy.