NameCensus.

UK surname

Mactaggart

A Scottish surname derived from the Gaelic "Mac an t-sagairt" meaning "son of the priest".

In the 1881 census there were 63 people recorded with the Mactaggart surname, ranking it #24,711 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 530, ranked #9,572, up from #24,711 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Govan Combination, Edinburgh and Killarow and Kilmeny. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Whisky Isles, Denholm and Hermitage and Comely Bank.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Mactaggart is 530 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 741.3%.

1881 census count

63

Ranked #24,711

Modern count

530

2016, ranked #9,572

Peak year

2010

530 bearers

Map years

4

1901 to 2016

Key insights

  • Mactaggart had 63 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #24,711 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 530 in 2016, ranked #9,572.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 148 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Mactaggart surname distribution map

The map shows where the Mactaggart surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Mactaggart surname density by area, 2016 modern.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Mactaggart over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 41 #25,926
1861 historical 33 #29,814
1881 historical 63 #24,711
1891 historical 74 #27,538
1901 historical 148 #18,212
1911 historical 23 #30,923
1997 modern 431 #10,410
1998 modern 453 #10,358
1999 modern 455 #10,364
2000 modern 480 #9,932
2001 modern 462 #10,034
2002 modern 479 #9,954
2003 modern 481 #9,770
2004 modern 477 #9,833
2005 modern 469 #9,892
2006 modern 474 #9,855
2007 modern 487 #9,753
2008 modern 512 #9,470
2009 modern 526 #9,487
2010 modern 530 #9,632
2011 modern 508 #9,839
2012 modern 518 #9,629
2013 modern 528 #9,633
2014 modern 528 #9,701
2015 modern 527 #9,645
2016 modern 530 #9,572

Geography

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Where Mactaggarts are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Govan Combination, Edinburgh, Killarow and Kilmeny, Glasgow and Lasswade. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Whisky Isles, Denholm and Hermitage, Comely Bank, Kirkcudbright and Dalbeattie Rural. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Govan Combination Lanark
2 Edinburgh Edinburgh
3 Killarow and Kilmeny Argyll
4 Glasgow Lanark
5 Lasswade Edinburgh

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Whisky Isles Argyll and Bute
2 Denholm and Hermitage Scottish Borders
3 Comely Bank City of Edinburgh
4 Kirkcudbright Dumfries and Galloway
5 Dalbeattie Rural Dumfries and Galloway

Forenames

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First names often paired with Mactaggart

These lists show first names that appear often with the Mactaggart surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Mactaggart

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Mactaggart, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Retired Professionals

Group

Spacious Rural Living

Nationally, the Mactaggart surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Mactaggart household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly ageing households typically have no resident dependent children. Most are owner-occupiers and live in detached houses in low density residential developments (although renting is more common than in the rest of the Supergroup). White ethnicity predominates. Residents are typically beyond retirement age but those still in work have managerial, professional or skilled trade occupations. White ethnicity and Christian religious affiliation predominate. Neighbourhoods are located throughout rural UK.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

European Enclaves

Within London, Mactaggart is most associated with areas classed as European Enclaves, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many residents of these accessible neighbourhoods have wide-ranging non-UK European origins. Typically residing in privately rented flats, many residents live alone and are beyond normal retirement age. There are more students than elsewhere in the Supergroup, some of which live in communal establishments. Household residents are often drawn from different ethnic groups.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Mactaggart is most concentrated in decile 1 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the less healthy end of the index.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

1
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Mactaggart falls in decile 6 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Mactaggart is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of Over 70 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

10
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Mactaggart, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Mactaggart

The surname MacTaggart is of Scottish origin and is derived from the Gaelic personal name "Tadhg," which means poet or philosopher. This name is a diminutive of the name "Taidh," which means a poet or a storyteller. The prefix "Mac" in the name means "son of," indicating that the surname was originally a patronymic surname.

The surname MacTaggart is thought to have originated in the Scottish Highlands during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It was particularly prevalent in the regions of Argyll and the Hebrides, where many families bearing this surname were located.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname MacTaggart can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, dated 1451, where a person named Gillemor M'Taggarte is mentioned. The name also appears in various Scottish charters and records from the 15th and 16th centuries, often with slight variations in spelling, such as M'Taggarte, M'Taggard, or M'Taggart.

In the 17th century, the surname MacTaggart appeared in several historical documents, including the Bute Parish Records and the Dunoon Parish Records. One notable individual from this period was John MacTaggart (1597-1670), a Scottish minister who served as the minister of Lochgoilhead Parish in Argyll.

During the 18th century, the surname gained wider recognition with the birth of John MacTaggart (1766-1830), a Scottish writer and surveyor who authored the "Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia" and other works on Scottish history and culture.

Other notable individuals with the surname MacTaggart include Sir William MacTaggart (1903-1981), a British businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London from 1964 to 1965, and Sir Dugald MacTaggart (1925-2009), a Scottish businessman and philanthropist who founded the MacTaggart Trust to support educational initiatives in Scotland.

Furthermore, the surname MacTaggart has been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as MacTaggart's Brae and MacTaggart's Braes, which are located in the county of Stirlingshire. These place names likely originated from families bearing the MacTaggart surname who resided in or owned land in those areas.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Mactaggart families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Mactaggart surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Argyllshire leads with 17 Mactaggarts recorded in 1881 and an index of 115.96x.

County Total Index
Argyllshire 17 115.96x
Midlothian 15 21.26x
Lanarkshire 8 4.70x
Lancashire 4 0.64x
Cheshire 2 1.72x
Hampshire 2 1.85x
Perthshire 2 8.46x
Buteshire 1 31.35x
Cambridgeshire 1 3.00x
Fife 1 3.21x
Ross-shire 1 6.92x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Edinburgh St Cuthberts in Midlothian leads with 12 Mactaggarts recorded in 1881 and an index of 42.27x.

Place Total Index
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 12 42.27x
Kilchoman 10 2173.91x
Campbeltown 7 395.48x
Barony 3 6.96x
Govan 3 7.12x
Alverstoke 2 51.15x
Glasgow 2 6.61x
Liverpool 2 5.27x
Logie 2 235.29x
West Kirby 2 1000.00x
Edinburgh Greenside 1 107.53x
Edinburgh St Stephens 1 71.94x
Kirkdale 1 9.51x
Lochalsh 1 270.27x
Mid Calder 1 322.58x
Rothesay 1 64.52x
Scoonie 1 147.06x
St Michael Cambridge 1 1000.00x
West Derby 1 5.47x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Mactaggart surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 2
Catherine 1
Eliza 1
Margaret 1

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Mactaggart surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
John 1
Peter 1
Stratton 1
William 1

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Mactaggart households.

FAQ

Mactaggart surname: questions and answers

How common was the Mactaggart surname in 1881?

In 1881, 63 people were recorded with the Mactaggart surname. That placed it at #24,711 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Mactaggart surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 530 in 2016. That gives Mactaggart a modern rank of #9,572.

What does the Mactaggart surname mean?

A Scottish surname derived from the Gaelic "Mac an t-sagairt" meaning "son of the priest".

What does the Mactaggart map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Mactaggart bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.