McAlary meaning | Last name McAlary origin

The surname McAlary is a form of O'Clery. "A name," says historian D'Alton, "of the deepest historic interest in genealogy. That sept had large possessions in Tyr-hugh, their chief seat being at Kilbarron, where still remain the ruins of their castle, situated on a rock over the shore of the Atlantic, near Ballyshannon. They were highly distinguished in the native literature, and became hereditary bards and historians of the O'Donnells, Princes of Tyrconnell." To this family appropriately belonged Michael O'Clery, the diligent collector of ancient manuscripts relating to Ireland, who in the early part of the XVII century compiled the celebrated Annals of the Four Masters.

Family name McAlary is a variant form of the Clerk. See Clarke - Lat. clericus. French Le Clerc. A learned person - that is, one who could in old times read and write accomplishments not so rare, after all, as we are sometimes induced to think, since this is among the commonest of surnames. Clark stands 27th and Clarke 39th in the Registrar General's comparative list: and for 33,557 Smiths registered within a given period, there were 12,229 Clarks and Clarkes. Thus for every three hammermen we have at least one 'ready writer. 'If the Reg. General had reckoned Clark and Clarke as one name, it would have stood ninth in point of numerousness. As a surname, Clarke appears frequently to have aliased some other appellative; for instance the baronet family, C. of Salford, originally Woodchurch, from the parish of that name in Kent, soon after the Conquest became Clarkes (Le Clerc) in consequence of a marriage with an heiress, and the family for some generations wrote themselves "Woodchurch alias Le Clerc," and vice versa, until at length the territorial appellation succumbed to the professional one, which was right, for
"When house and land be gone and spente,
Then learning is most excellent."

Several other instances might be quoted to show that medieval bearers of the name were very proud of it, and hence, doubtless, its present numerousness. The word has several compounds in our family nomenclature, as Beauclerk, Mauclerk, Kenclarke, Petyclerk—the good, the bad, the knowing, and the little clerks, Several Domesday tenants are designated Clericus.

The surname is the variation of the Cleary. See Clary - Possibly from Cléri, near Alençon in Normandy.

The lastname is variant of Clary. Possibly from Cléri, near Alençon in Normandy.

The surname McAlary is form of Lurie. One who came from Luria meaning "sorrowful," located in Italy.

Variant form of Cleary. Granson of Cleieach meaning "cleric or clerk".

The lastname is variant form of the Clark. A clergyman, scholar, scribe or recorder, a British pronunciation of clerk.