# Men's names that nick to "Mac" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610 "2017-05-28T18:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/1 "2017-05-28T18:46:20Z")
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)? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/2 "2017-05-28T19:15:40Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/3 "2017-05-28T19:20:14Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/4 "2017-05-28T19:32:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/5 "2017-05-28T21:15:34Z")
Names including Mac at this [baby name finder](http://www.parents.com/baby-names/results). Cormac and Macaulay are common ones. Micah, Marcos, and Maximillian are possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/6 "2017-05-28T21:33:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/7 "2017-05-28T21:49:58Z")
Round our way anyone with a Mc… or Mac… surname will be at risk of having Macca as their nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/8 "2017-05-28T22:40:21Z")
It could also be Michael. And “Mack” by itself has probably been given as a name a number of times. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/9 "2017-05-28T22:46:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/10 "2017-05-28T23:12:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/11 "2017-05-28T23:30:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/12 "2017-05-28T23:31:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Ironically, Mackenzie is her middle name. Her first name is actually Laura. And I collect those as well, thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/13 "2017-05-28T23:52:58Z")
My grandfather was Max. Some people called him Mac. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/14 "2017-05-29T00:14:38Z")
A coworker from Tunisia was named Makram, nicknamed Mac. ---
**Author:** ![Pilgrim\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Pilgrim\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pilgrim_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/15 "2017-05-29T02:07:04Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > My grandfather was Max. Some people called him 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. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/16 "2017-05-29T02:10:23Z")
has anyone gone by the nickname “Mac” since 1955? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/17 "2017-05-29T14:57:28Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > 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.) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/18 "2017-05-29T15:19:45Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/19 "2017-05-29T15:52:50Z")
> [@Pilgrim\_Shadow](#): > > I assume it comes from Irish or Scots-Irish American culture with the Mc/Mac names. Right you are, Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610/20 "2017-05-29T19:11:08Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > 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.” Ah, another Bonzo Dog fan… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mens-names-that-nick-to-mac/787610.md?page=2)