Liddell to Macnaghten

The archaic pronunciation of surnames has not always developed at the same pace as our language, and can cause confusion. The table below gives guidance on the pronunciation of a selection of English surnames - establishing the traditional pronunciation of a surname will ensure that you do not cause offence.

Surname Pronunciation
Liddell Lid-el
Lisle Lyle
Listowel Lis-toe-ell
Lombe Loam (sometimes Lumb)
Londesborough Londs-bro'
Londonderry Londond'ry (city pronounced London-Derry
Loudon Loud-on
Loughborough Luff-bro
Louth 'th' as in 'mouth' (Ireland 'th' as in 'breathe')
Lovat Luv-at
Lowson Lo-son ('lo' as in 'go')
Lowther Low-thr ('low' as in 'now')
Lycett Lisset
Lygon Liggon
Lyon Lion
Lysaght Ly-set
Lyveden Live-den (as in 'give')
Macara Mac-ara
Macbean Mac-bain
McCorquodale M'cork-o-dale
McCulloch M'cull-och
McDonagh Mac-Donna
McEvoy Mac-evoy
McEwan Mac-ewen
McFadzean Mac fadd-yen
McGillycuddy Mac-li-cuddy
Machell May-chell
McIvor Mac-Ivor
McKay M'Kye (as in 'eye')
McKie Mack-ie (occasionally pronounced M'Kye)
Maclean Mac-layne
Macleay Mac-lay
Macleod Mac-loud
McLachlan Mac-lochlan
Macnaghten Mac-nawton

 

 

 

Register for updates

Register here to receive our regular newsletter, exclusive offers and updates on new Debrett’s initiatives.

Register here now

Competition

Win a pair of Pocket Books