McNair

McNair is a surname of Scottish origin. It is an anglicized form of a Gaelic name and is found in Scotland as well as among descendants in Canada, the United States, and other English-speaking regions. Spelling variants commonly associated with the name include MacNair and McNair, reflecting historic Gaelic naming patterns.

In historical records, bearers of the name appear in parish and civil registers dating from early modern times, and later in immigration and census data as families with the surname moved to North America and beyond. Today, McNair is a moderately common surname in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, with communities and individuals contributing across various professions and fields.

Notable people with the surname McNair include Steve McNair (1973–2009), an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens; and Robert C. McNair (1928–2018), an American businessman who founded a major energy company and owned the Houston Texans NFL franchise. The name appears across a range of public, academic, and cultural contexts, reflecting its broad geographic and professional distribution.