I am trying to compile a list of men’s names that would justify the nickname “Mac.” (Okay, if you insist, “Mack,” too.)
I guess many Celtic family names could be used as a first name, but Mackenzie seems to be the only common one. Malcolm sometimes becomes Mac, but it seems a stretch.
What others occur to you, hewing to a “normal” name model (traditional, established, not an odd usage like “MacIntosh” might be)?
You don’t need to have a “Mc/Mac” forename to be nicknamed “Mac” - the surname will do, surely?
And I had the impression that it’s not uncommon, or used not to be, in the US to use “Mac” as a generic way to address an unknown man, just as we and the Australians use “mate”.
Exactly…my grandpa was Joseph Mortimer McXxxxx…He was known to everyone as Mac.
I know (9.5 on the duh scale) that any Mc/Mac/M’ surname becomes Mac, as does any equivalent to Buddy, Dude, Man, etc.
I am trying to find as many *given *names as I can that would reasonably support “Mac” as an obvious nickname.
Names including Mac at this baby name finder.
Cormac and Macaulay are common ones.
Micah, Marcos, and Maximillian are possibilities.
Our last name is Maccaby, which is Jewish. In the military, my husband was Mac. Because he is a really big guy, sometimes he was “Big Mac.” When our son was born, he became “Little Mac.”
Lots of women named Mackenzie (or whatever spelling) go by “Mac.” I know one. I’m pretty sure Mackenzie Phillips stared the trend. Ironically, Mackenzie is her middle name. Her first name is actually Laura. I suspect she started the trend, because the surge in popularity for the name happened right about the time people who would have watched One Day at a Time in junior high or high school started having babies.
I know a kid named McIntyre (his first name) who gets called “Mac.”
I also knew a Zebulon Andrew Crain who went by Zac. There are probably plenty of people with the initials MAC. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of then went by that.
Round our way anyone with a Mc… or Mac… surname will be at risk of having Macca as their nickname.
It could also be Michael. And “Mack” by itself has probably been given as a name a number of times.
I was just going to post this, someone at work found out my full name is John Michael, and calls me Johnny Mac.
How about MacMillan, as in MacMillan and Wife? Nearly everyone called him “Mac.”
OK, never mind. I saw that you’re looking for first names.
Cormac works well. (I can’t begin to explain the why of this, but I need a respectable first name that nicknames to Mac/k without being too tortured.) Still soliciting better ones but I think that works.
And I collect those as well, thanks. 
My grandfather was Max. Some people called him Mac.
A coworker from Tunisia was named Makram, nicknamed Mac.
Yep, my name is Max too, and I get called Mac, Matt, Mark, and Mike!
When I was a kid in the seventies it was much more common to hear “Mac” used like “bud” or “pal.”
“Hey, Mac, they just called your number, you’re next.”
Something like that.
I assume it comes from Irish or Scots-Irish American culture with the Mc/Mac names.
It seems to have died out since the eighties. I don’t hear it anymore. Maybe they still use it in other regions.
has anyone gone by the nickname “Mac” since 1955?
I think you might be confusing the dude-ism with the actual name. I don’t think I’ve ever called someone “Mac” (== pal, dude, man) except with some implied humor, but I have known men called Mac because it was a diminutive of their name. (Usually a last name.) The former usage is pretty out of date, except when used for deliberate humorous effect. IMHO.
(Actually, my generic guy name is “mate” - I worked with a bunch of Aussies for several years and got Strined. Still have downunda lingo in my daily speech, and can fall into a pretty good Oz lilt when tired, drunk or wise-ass.)
A punk stopped me on the street. He said, “You got a light, mac?”
I said, “No, but I’ve got a dark brown overcoat.”
Right you are, Dutch.
Ah, another Bonzo Dog fan…