Show ContentsMacQuaid History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of MacQuaid

What does the name MacQuaid mean?

The original Gaelic form of MacQuaid was Mac Uaid, which means son of Wat.

Early Origins of the MacQuaid family

The surname MacQuaid was first found in County Monaghan (Irish: Muineachán) located in the Northern part of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Ulster.

Early History of the MacQuaid family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacQuaid research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1750 is included under the topic Early MacQuaid History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

MacQuaid Spelling Variations

The recording of names in Ireland in the Middle Ages was an inconsistent endeavor at best. The many regional dialects and the predominate illiteracy would have made common surnames appear unrelated to the scribes of the period. Research into the name MacQuaid revealed spelling variations, including McQuaid, McQuade, McWade, McQuid, McQuoid, McQuaide and many more.

Early Notables of the MacQuaid family

More information is included under the topic Early MacQuaid Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


MacQuaid migration to the United States +

In the late 18th century, Irish families began emigrating to North America in the search of a plot of land to call their own. This pattern of emigration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s cause thousands of Irish to flee the death and disease that accompanied the disaster. Those that made it alive to the shores of the United States and British North America (later to become Canada) were, however, instrumental in the development of those two powerful nations. Many of these Irish immigrants proudly bore the name of MacQuaid:

MacQuaid Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Edward MacQuaid, who landed in New York, NY in 1811 1

Contemporary Notables of the name MacQuaid (post 1700) +

  • John Charles MacQuaid (1895-1973), Irish prelate


  1. 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)


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