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Macauley

Boy name · 40 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Macauley: 40 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to boys, peaking at 9 births in 1995.

Macauley is an Irish name, an anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Mac Amhalghadha, meaning “son of Amhalghadh,” a personal name of uncertain origin possibly meaning “descendant of valor” or “a warrior.” The spelling Macauley is most famously associated with the American actor Macaulay Culkin, who shot to global fame as the child star of *Home Alone*, though his owns name uses the alternative “-aulay” spelling. There are no prominent places directly named after the name itself, though the surname also appears in the place name of the Macauley Islands in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, reflecting Norse-Gaelic heritage. A notable variant is the more common Scottish surname MacAulay, which shares the same root and is borne by the prominent political historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, though his family connection is English.