Does the surname McCleary sound more Irish or Scottish?
McCleary Name Meaning and History 1. Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Cléirich ‘son of the cleric’ (see Cleary). 2. Anglicized form of Mac Giolla Arraith ‘son of the servant of Arraith’, or Woulfe suggests of Mac Giolla an Raith ‘son of the prosperous youth’. http://www.ancestry.com/facts/McCleary-f… Cleary Name Meaning and History Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cléirigh (or Mac Cléirigh) ‘descendant (or son) of the scribe, clerk, or cleric (cléireach)’, also commonly Anglicized as Clark. http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Cleary-fam… Clark Name Meaning and History English: occupational name for a scribe or secretary, originally a member of a minor religious order who undertook such duties. The word clerc denoted a member of a religious order, from Old English cler(e)c ‘priest’, reinforced by Old French clerc.