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It's both Scots and Irish, and in both countries Macaulay, McAuley, etc. represent two different names. Complicated, eh?
In Ireland you have MacAmhalghaidh, originating in Calry, Co. Westmeath, meaning "son of Awley", a male given name so old it can't be explained. Then you have MacAmhlaoibh of Clanawley, Co. Fermanagh, a branch of the Maguires. That means "son of Olaf", a Norse surname borrowed by the Gaels.
In Scotland you have the same names; a family named MacAmhalghaidh originating in the Lennox, and a family named MacAmhlaibh, originating in the Isle of Lewis. MacAmhlaibh means "son of Olaf" though the spelling differs slightly from the Irish.
To complicate matters even further, some of the Lennox MacAulays settled in Ireland.
I think the spelling Macaulay, -ay ending is more likely to be Scots than Irish, but that's just my opinion.
In Ireland you have MacAmhalghaidh, originating in Calry, Co. Westmeath, meaning "son of Awley", a male given name so old it can't be explained. Then you have MacAmhlaoibh of Clanawley, Co. Fermanagh, a branch of the Maguires. That means "son of Olaf", a Norse surname borrowed by the Gaels.
In Scotland you have the same names; a family named MacAmhalghaidh originating in the Lennox, and a family named MacAmhlaibh, originating in the Isle of Lewis. MacAmhlaibh means "son of Olaf" though the spelling differs slightly from the Irish.
To complicate matters even further, some of the Lennox MacAulays settled in Ireland.
I think the spelling Macaulay, -ay ending is more likely to be Scots than Irish, but that's just my opinion.
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