A Scottish and Irish surname, McCartney comes from the Gaelic terms ‘mac’ and ‘artain’ which refer to the son of a hero, a warrior. It is considered a Celtic surname. Variations in spelling McCartney include MacKartnay, M’Cartney, MacCartney, Makcairtnay and MacArtney. Early McCartney families in Scotland were from Kirkcudbright. In Ireland the early McCartneys were from County Cork and later family branches were in Ulster. In Scotland the Ayrshire region was where many with the McCartney name first lived. From there many moved into Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire counties. In England most with the McCartney family name live in Lancashire, Durham, Yorkshire, Cumberland and the city of London. Within the United States the McCartney surname is concentrated in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, West Virginia, Michigan, Texas and California. Famous: Paul McCartney (singer, songwriter, original member of ‘The Beatles’), Forrest S. McCartney (director of the Kennedy Space Center), George McCartney (professional footballer from Northern Ireland), Tom McCartney (professional rugby player from New Zealand), Stella McCartney (English fashion designer), Jesse McCartney (musician and actor) and Joseph H. McCartney (renown poet and artist).