A Scottish surname, McCall comes from the Gaelic terms ‘cath’ and 'maol' which referred to the son of a battle chief. The spelling variations for McCall include MacAll, MacAul, MacCole, MacColl and MacCall. In England the northern region is where most with the surname of McCall lived. The counties of Lancashire, Northumberland, Cumberland and Durham have the higher McCall populations. In Scotland the first of the McCall families started in Argyllshire. Later many settled in Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Midlothian and Dumfries-shire. Within the United States the McCall families originated in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Illinois. Famous: Bruce McCall (author from Canada), Phil McCall (actor from Scotland), Jack McCall (killer of James ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok), Willie McCall (Scottish footballer), Ian McCall (footballer from Scotland), William McCall (movie film actor) and Robert McCall (artist).