The McDade surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,119 people carried this name — #4,945 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 41,500 people counted. That is up 5% from 6,787 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the McDade surname

Anglicised form of Irish Mac Daibhéid, a surname meaning "son of David".

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «McDade» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Scotland’s registers today

McDade was recorded 38 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 672nd most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 76. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

McDade in American newspapers,
1894–1913.

Newspaper page from The Morning Call carrying the name McDade
The Morning Call 1894-09-23
Newspaper page from The Pensacola Journal carrying the name McDade
The Pensacola Journal 1913-03-12
Newspaper page from The Pensacola Journal carrying the name McDade
The Pensacola Journal 1913-03-05

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 14,606 pages in all carry the name.

In print

McDade in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1980s.

2,632 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McDade. The most, 980, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 1,407
Queensland 800
Western Australia 315
Victoria 34
South Australia 25
Tasmania 23
ACT (Canberra) 9
Northern Territory 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss McDade.

Who carried it

People named McDade,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Joseph M. McDade
    Joseph M. McDade 1931–2017 · law clerk
  • John J. McDade
    John J. McDade 1856–1937 · politician
  • Alex McDade 1905–1937
  • Robert McDade 1922–2009 · military personnel
  • George Manning McDade 1893–1966 · journalist

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0.

In the public record

People named McDade,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States909 records

909 records of the McDade name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 248
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 198
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 141
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 118
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 117
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 61
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 25
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Donald M. McDade

    Born 1913 in Pennsylvania. Enlisted 1941 at Wilkes Barre; teacher from Luzerne County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2000, buried at St Mary's Cemetery, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Ann McDade

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the Anchoria from Glasgow, aged 19; house steward. From Ballantral, Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Alton Troy McDade

    U.S. Army veteran. Born 1946, died 1997; buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Parison.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 909 records for McDade in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia110 records

110 records of the McDade name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 44
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 39
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 15
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 9
  • Tasmanian Names Index 3
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record James McDade

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Henry Porcher, arriving 1825; certificate of freedom 1832.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Thos S. McDade

    Arrived in Victoria in 1886 aboard the Cuzco, aged 20; Scottish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Edward McDade

    Retired of Laverton North, Victoria; died 1996.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 110 records for McDade in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada74 records

74 records of the McDade name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 64
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 3
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 2
  • Ontario immigration records, 1865–1883 2
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 2
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record George Harold McDade

    Buried in 1990 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 63.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Sarah T. McDade

    Died 1873 in Halls Harbour, Kings, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Joseph McDade

    Died in service in 1917.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 74 records for McDade in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom13 records

13 records of the McDade name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 7
  • Stirling Council burial records 6
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record George McDade

    Died 1941, aged 67; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. McDade

    Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Margaret McDade

    Buried in 1933 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 38.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing 3 of 13 records for McDade in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to McDade.

When the index is not enough

This page says where McDade is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the McDade volume
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