Given name & surname
McRae
“the son of Ray”
McRae is a variant of Macrae. One interpretation is “the son of Ray.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
McRae is a variant of Macrae. One interpretation is “the son of Ray.”
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Scottish Gaelic Mac Raith (“son of grace”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1952. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
McRae through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 36
- 31 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 2008
- 6 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 6 in 2008. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 164 as a first name in 2020; 17,483 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
McRae’s family of names
McRae has a related form in Macrae. In English usage, McRae as a surname has a related form in MCCRAE. In English usage, McRae as a surname has a related form in McCrea.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named McRae
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love McRae, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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>99% boys
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“a fair-haired man”
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“a little monk”
>99% boys
McKennon
“the son of Kenna; to ascend”
>99% boys
Macintyre
“the son of the carpenter”
>99% boys
Rogen
“a red-haired man”
>99% boys