McCoy is a common surname of unrelated Scottish and Irish origin. It was anglicized into the Scottish name from the Irish McGee and McHugh surnames in Irish Mac Aodha. It is an Anglicisation of its Irish form Mac Aodha, meaning son of Aodh (a name of a deity in Irish mythology and an Irish word for "fire"). The first bearers of the surname Mac Aodha were the grandsons of Aodh (died 1033), who was a son of Ruaidhrí mac Coscraigh, King of South Connacht, Ireland. The surname McCoy in Ulster however, particularly in Northern Ireland, is from the Scottish MacKays that arrived later in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Ulster plantations and became McCoys.
Contents
People
One of the families in the 19th century Hatfield-McCoy feud in Kentucky/West Virginia
A
Al McCoy (born 1933), American sports broadcaster
Al McCoy (1894–1966), middleweight champion boxer
Alban McCoy (born 1951), British priest and writer, former Catholic Chaplain of Cambridge University
Alfred McCoy (1899–1990), American college sports coach
Alfred W. McCoy (born 1945), American author and scholar of the Asian heroin drug trade
Alice McCoy (born 1948), member of the South Dakota House of Representatives
Andy McCoy (born 1962), Finnish guitarist of Hanoi Rocks
B
Barry M. McCoy (born 1940), American physicist
Bob McCoy (1934–2016), American basketball player and coach
Brian McCoy (1943–1975), Irish musician, trumpet player
C
Carl McCoy (born 1963), musician
Charlie McCoy (born 1941), American musician
Clyde McCoy (1903–1990), American jazz trumpeter
Colt McCoy (born 1986), American football quarterback
D
Dave McCoy (1915–2020), American businessman and skier
E
Elaine McCoy (1946–2020), Canadian senator
Elijah McCoy (1844–1929), Canadian inventor and engineer
Elin McCoy, American wine critic
Erik McCoy (born 1997), American football player
Ernie McCoy (1904–1980), American collegiate athletic director
Ernie McCoy (1921–2001), Formula One driver
Ethel Bergstresser McCoy (1893–1980), of New York City
F
Frank Ross McCoy (1874–1954), United States Army officer
Freddie McCoy (1932–2009), American soul-jazz vibraphonist
Frederick McCoy (1823–1899), British palaeontologist
G
Garry McCoy (born 1972), Australian motorcycle racer
George McCoy (born 1948), author of a guide to sexual services in Britain
George Walter McCoy (1876–1952), American physician
Gerald McCoy (born 1988), American football player
Gerry McCoy (born 1960), Scottish football player
H
Horace McCoy (1897–1955), American writer
J
Jack E. McCoy (1929–2014), American politician
Jack McCoy (racing driver, born 1937) (1937–2009), American racing driver
Jake McCoy (1942–2021), American hockey player
Janet J. McCoy (1916–1995), American administrator and politician
Jason McCoy (born 1970), Canadian singer/songwriter
Jason L. McCoy (born 1971), Attorney, Mayor of the Town of Vernon, Connecticut Politician
Javante McCoy (born 1998), American basketball player
Jelani McCoy (born 1977), American basketball player
Jeremy McCoy, (born 1963), American-Canadian double bassist with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Jermod McCoy (born 2005), American football player
John McCoy (disambiguation), many people
Joseph McCoy (1837–1913), 19th-century cattle baron
Joseph H. McCoy (died 1897), Black American lynching victim
K
Kansas Joe McCoy (1905–1950), American musician
Kellen McCoy (born 1987), American basketball player and coach
Kevin McCoy (born 1967), American artist
Kevin McCoy (born 1954), rector of the Pontifical North American College
Kid McCoy (1872–1940), boxer (born Norman Selby)
L
LeRon McCoy (born 1982), American football wide receiver
LeSean McCoy (born 1988), American football running back
LisaRaye McCoy (born 1967), American actress
M
Maimie McCoy (born 1979), English actress
Mark McCoy (born 1975), American musician
Marvin McCoy (born 1988), professional footballer
Mary Eleanora McCoy (1846–1923), American philanthropist, organizer, and clubwoman
Matt McCoy (born 1958), American actor
Matt McCoy (born 1982), American football linebacker
Matt McCoy (born 1966), member of the Iowa Senate
Mike McCoy (disambiguation), multiple people
N
Neal McCoy (born 1958), American country music singer
Neal Henry McCoy (1905–2001), American mathematician
O
Obed McCoy (born 1997) West Indies cricket player
P
Papa Charlie McCoy (1909–1950), American musician
Paul McCoy, American musician
R
Randolph McCoy (1825–1914) of the Hatfield–McCoy feud, also called Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy.
Richard McCoy, Jr. (1942–1974), airplane hijacker
Richard McCoy (1863–1942), Australian politician
Richard B. McCoy (died 1902), American politician
Rico McCoy (born 1987), American football player
Robert McCoy (disambiguation), multiple people
Rose Marie McCoy (1922–2015), American songwriter
S
Simon McCoy (born 1961), British journalist and newsreader
Stephen McCoy (1948–1989), American serial killer
Steve McCoy, radio morning show host
Sylvester McCoy (born 1943), Scottish actor
T
Tim McCoy (1891–1978), American actor
Timothy McCoy (1955–1972), American murder victim who was killed by John Wayne Gacy
Tony McCoy (born 1974), Irish National Hunt jockey
Travis McCoy (born 1981), member of the hip-hop group Gym Class Heroes
V
Van McCoy (1940–1979), music producer and songwriter
W
Walter McCoy (disambiguation), multiple people
William D. McCoy (1853–1893), American diplomat
William S. McCoy (1877–1948), American rum–runner
Wilson McCoy (1902–1961), American artist and cartoonist
Fictional characters
Danny McCoy, in the American TV series Las Vegas
Ebenezar McCoy, in the book series The Dresden Files
Jack McCoy, in the Law & Order franchise
Josie McCoy, in the Josie and the Pussycats franchise