McCandless is a Scots-Irish surname. It is derived from the Gaelic meaning 'son of Cuindleas', a given name of uncertain meaning. In historical census and other data, the name is mostly confined to the province of Ulster, especially County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, and counties Antrim, Down, and Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The name is closely related to McCandlish (from the same derivation but primarily found in Scotland). McCandless has also been attested in Scotland. It is etymologically but probably not familially related to the western Irish ('descendant of Cuindleas'), a literary family of Uí Maine.
The earliest form of the given name can be traced back to an abbot from the 8th century called Cuindles.
Notable McCandlesses
Al McCandless (1927–2017), US Congressman
Billy McCandless (1894–1955), Irish football player and manager
Bruce McCandless (1911–1968), US Navy rear admiral, and Medal of Honor recipient
Bruce McCandless II (1937–2017), astronaut who made the first untethered spacewalk Byron McCandless (1881–1967), commodore in the US Navy; vexillologist Chris McCandless (1968–1992), American hiker and itinerant traveler; the subject of Into the Wild (1996) Cromie McCandless (1921–1992), Northern Irish motorcycle road racer; brother of Rex Ezra McCandless (born Monica Kay, 1998), an American who was convicted of the murder of Alex Woodworth Jack McCandless (1892–1940), Irish football player and manager Lincoln Loy McCandless (1859–1940), American politician, cattle rancher, industrialist 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), Northern Irish motorcycle road racer, designer of the Norton Featherbed motorcycle frame; brother of Cromie Scott Cook "Jack" McCandless (1891–1961), Major League Baseball player 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), US federal judge from Pennsylvania
See also
McCandless (disambiguation) – including place names, vessels, fictional characters, etc. McCandlish McCandless Gang Ó Cuindlis