McGill History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

An ancient Strathclyde-Briton family from the Scottish/English Borderlands were the first to use the name McGill. They lived in Galloway. The McGill surname also comes from the Gaelic patronytmic name Mac an Ghoill, which means “son of the stranger.”

Early Origins of the McGill family

The surname McGill was first found in Galloway (Gaelic: Gall-ghaidhealaibh), an area of southwestern Scotland, now part of the Council Area of Dumfries and Galloway, that formerly consisted of the counties of Wigtown (West Galloway) and Kirkcudbright (East Galloway), where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.