McCandless (surname)

McCandless is a surname of Irish origin, common in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, derived from the Irish "Mac Cuindilis" which means "son of Cuindleas", an old Irish personal name with variations including; MacCandlis, MacCandless, MacCanlis and MacAndless. It is also related to the Irish "Ó Cuindlis" which means "descendant of Cuindleas" with variations including; Cundlish, Cunlish and Quinlish. Ó Cuindlis was then changed to Ó Coinleisc with variations including; Cunlisk, Quinlisk and Quinlish. Ó Coinleisc appears to have been Anglicised to "Grimes" in West Mayo.[1][2][3] The earliest form of the spelling can be traced back to an abbot from the 8th century called Cuindles.


  • Al McCandless (1927–2017), U.S. Congressman
  • Billy McCandless (1894–1955), Northern Irish footballer
  • Bruce McCandless (1911–1968), U.S. Navy rear admiral, and Medal of Honor recipient
  • Bruce McCandless II (1937–2017), astronaut who made the first untethered spacewalk
  • Byron McCandless (1881–1967), vexillologist and commodore in the U.S. Navy
  • Christopher McCandless (1968–1992), American hiker and itinerant traveler who starved to death in Alaska, and the subject of the multiple non-fiction books and documentaries, beginning with Into the Wild (1996)
  • Cromie McCandless (1921–1992), motorcycle road racer and brother of Rex
  • Ezra McCandless (1998), an American murderer who was convicted of the murder of Alex Woodworth
  • John McCandless (1892-1940), Irish football player and manager.
  • Lincoln Loy McCandless (1859–1940), American cattle rancher, industrialist and politician from Hawaii
  • Paul McCandless (born 1947), American jazz woodwind player and composer
  • Ray B. McCandless (1889–1931), American college sports coach
  • Rex McCandless (1915–1992), motorcycle road racer, designer of the Norton Featherbed frame, brother of Cromie
  • Stanley McCandless (1897–1967), considered to be the first theatrical lighting educator
  • William McCandless (1834–1884), Union Army officer in the American Civil War and later member of the Pennsylvania State Senate
  • Wilson McCandless (1810–1882), United States federal judge from Pennsylvania

See also

References
  1. "Irish names and surnames: Mac Cuindilis".
  2. "Irish names and surnames: Ó Cuindlis".
  3. "Irish names and surnames: Ó Coinleisc".


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