# If your name is Ian Mc\*Something\*, become an actor. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654 "2011-05-04T03:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/1 "2011-05-04T03:22:36Z")
So you can join Ian McKellan, Ian McShane, and Ian McDarmid. You’re a shoe-in for fame and fortune! ---
**Author:** ![some\_wannabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@some\_wannabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_wannabe)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/2 "2011-05-04T03:24:18Z")
Or at least you can become a writer, like Ian McEwan 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/3 "2011-05-04T03:42:56Z")
Ian McNeice is an actor also. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/4 "2011-05-04T03:52:32Z")
> [@some\_wannabe](#): > > Or at least you can become a writer, like Ian McEwan 🙂 Or a rock ‘n’ roll keyboard player like Ian McLagan and Ian McDonald. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/5 "2011-05-04T04:08:10Z")
There’s also [Ian McCulloch](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567135/). ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/6 "2011-05-04T04:14:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s also [Ian McCulloch](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567135/). So there is, but on the other hand [Ian McCulloch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_McCulloch_(singer)) and [Ian McCulloch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_McCulloch_(snooker_player)) aren’t actors. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/7 "2011-05-04T04:29:03Z")
Ah, so it’s Ian McCulloch the spy you’re wanting. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/8 "2011-05-04T06:04:06Z")
So Ian Ziering might actually be famous if his last name was McZiering and he pronounced his first name correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/9 "2011-05-04T11:19:34Z")
Names of the form “Ian McSomething” are extremely common in the U.K., so it’s not surprising that there should be a few actors with such names. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/10 "2011-05-04T12:40:50Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Names of the form “Ian McSomething” are extremely common in the U.K., so it’s not surprising that there should be a few actors with such names. Indeed. “Ian” is just a Gaelic form of “John”, which historically has been the most popular name in Christian-heritage cultures. Mc- and Mac- are extremely common patronymic prefixes; I wouldn’t be surprised if a quarter of all Scottish people had last names beginning with these prefixes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/11 "2011-05-04T12:40:59Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > You’re a shoe-in for fame and fortune! Especially if you have your own shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/12 "2011-05-04T14:43:23Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Indeed. “Ian” is just a Gaelic form of “John”, which historically has been the most popular name in Christian-heritage cultures. Mc- and Mac- are extremely common patronymic prefixes; I wouldn’t be surprised if a quarter of all Scottish people had last names beginning with these prefixes. I couldn’t resist checking, and it doesn’t seem as if the Mc/Mac surnames are actually quite as common as that. This cite using 2001 data only lists the top 20, which it says correspond to 12% of the population, so it doesn’t quite prove the point, but nevertheless only MacDonald gets into the top 20. I’m surprised too. [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/paediatric-epidemiology/pdfs/Signficance\_Surnames\_Paper.pdf](http://www.ucl.ac.uk/paediatric-epidemiology/pdfs/Signficance_Surnames_Paper.pdf) (p.191, PDF) via [Scottish surnames - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_surnames#Most_common_surnames) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-name-is-ian-mc-something-become-an-actor/580654/13 "2011-05-05T00:14:00Z")
Here’s a list of the top 100 Scottish surnames: > **[What Does Your Scottish Surname Mean?](https://www.thoughtco.com/scottish-surnames-meanings-and-origins-1422406)** > > Uncover the meaning of your Scottish surname with this free guide to Scottish last name meanings and origins.