Show ContentsCormack History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The chronicles of the Cormack family indicate that the name was first used by the Strathclyde Britons of the Scottish/English Borderlands. It is derived from the Gaelic name MacChormaig, which derives from the given name Cormac, meaning charioteer.

Early Origins of the Cormack family

The surname Cormack was first found in Dumfriesshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Phris), a Southern area, bordering on England that today forms part of the Dumfries and Galloway Council Area, 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.

Early History of the Cormack family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cormack research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1132, 1733, 1750, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1794, 1799, 1811, 1865 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Cormack History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cormack Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that rules have developed and the process of spelling according to sound has been abandoned. Scottish names from before that time tend to appear under many different spelling variations. Cormack has been spelled MacCormack, MacCormick, MacCormock, McCormick, McCormack, McCormock, Maccormick, Maccormack, Maccormock, McArmick, McCarmick, McCarmike, McKermick, Makarmik, McCornick, Cornick, Cormack, M'Kernock, MacCornack and many more.

Early Notables of the Cormack family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Joseph MacCormick (1733-1799), Scottish divine, son of John Maccormick, a minister at St. Andrews, born in that town 22 Jan. 1733. He graduated M.A. at St. Andrews University in 1750 and was granted a bursary in theology from the university exchequer in the same year. After serving for some years...
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cormack Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cormack Ranking

In the United States, the name Cormack is the 17,401st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Ireland Migration of the Cormack family to Ireland

Some of the Cormack family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 200 words (14 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Cormack migration to the United States +

Unwelcome in their beloved homeland, many Scots sailed for the colonies of North America. There, they found land and freedom, and even the opportunity to make a new nation in the American War of Independence. These Scottish settlers played essential roles in the founding of the United States, and the shaping of contemporary North America. Among them:

Cormack Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Daniell Cormack, who arrived in Virginia in 1643 2
Cormack Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Christopher Cormack, who settled in Annapolis Maryland in 1731
Cormack Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Patrick Cormack, who settled in New York State in 1804
  • Patrick Cormack, aged 17, who landed in New York, NY in 1804 2
  • James, Margaret, Peter, Rebecca Cormack all, who settled in New York State in 1804
  • Thomas Cormack, who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1850

Canada Cormack migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Cormack Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Mrs. Bridget Cormack, aged 30 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Lady Campbell" departing from the port of Dublin, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in September 1847 3
  • Mr. Michael Cormack, aged 4 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Lady Campbell" departing from the port of Dublin, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in September 1847 3
  • Mr. Michael Cormack, aged 30 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Junior" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in July 1847 3

Australia Cormack migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Cormack Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. William Cormack, British convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for life, transported aboard the "Calcutta" in February 1803, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, the settlement was listed as abandoned and most of the convicts transported to Tasmania on the "Queen" in 1804 4
  • George Cormack, Scottish convict from Inverness, who was transported aboard the "Asia" on July 29th, 1823, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 5
  • John Cormack, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Rajasthan" in 1838 6
  • W C Cormack, who landed in Sydney, Australia in 1839
  • Andrew Cormack, aged 33, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Charlotte Jane" 7
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New Zealand Cormack migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Cormack Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • W E Cormack, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1841
  • John Cormack, aged 21, a labourer, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "Slains Castle" in 1841
  • Mr. John Cormack, (b. 1819), aged 21, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Slains Castle" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 25th January 1841 8
  • Mr. John Cormack, Scottish settler travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Robert Henderson" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 5th October 1861 8
  • Mr. Angus Cormack, Scottish settler travelling from Clyde aboard the ship "Sir William Eyre" arriving in Bluff, Southland, South Island, New Zealand in April 1863 8
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Cormack (post 1700) +

  • Edward Bartlett Cormack (1898-1942), American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and producer, best known for his 1927 Broadway play The Racket, and his many collaborations with Howard Hughes and Cecil B. DeMille
  • Allan MacLeod Cormack (1924-1998), American (South African-born) physicist, who shared a 1979 Nobel Prize, for developing the CAT scan x-ray technique
  • Arthur Cormack (b. 1965), Scottish Gaelic singer and musician
  • Robert Cormack (b. 1946), Scottish Emeritus Professor at Queen’s University, Belfast
  • Peter Barr Cormack (b. 1946), Scottish former professional footballer and football manager, active from 1961 to 2002
  • Patrick Thomas Cormack DL, FSA, FRHistS (1939-2024), Baron Cormack, a British politician, historian, journalist and author, Member of Parliament for South Staffordshire (1974-2010)
  • Mr. Hamish George Gordon Cormack O.B.E., M.B.E., British Lieutenant Colonel for The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 17th June 2017
  • Ben Cormack (b. 1982), British writer and illustrator
  • Paul Gregory Cormack (b. 1962), former English cricketer
  • Gordon V. Cormack, Canadian computer science professor at the University of Waterloo and co-inventor of Dynamic Markov Compression
  • ... (Another 7 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 21)
  4. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/calcutta
  5. State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Asia 1 voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1823 with 151 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1823
  6. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) RAJASTHAN 1838. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1838Rajasthan.htm
  7. South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CHARLOTTE JANE 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/charlottejane1852.shtml
  8. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html


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