MacPherson or Macpherson is a surname, meaning "son of the parson" in Scottish Gaelic. Notable people with the surname include:

In sports

• Archie Macpherson (born 1937), Scottish football commentator

• Bruce MacPherson (field hockey), Canadian field hockey player

• Bryden Macpherson, Australian amateur golfer

• Duncan MacPherson, ice hockey player

• Gus MacPherson, Scottish footballer

• Jeff MacPherson (born 1956), American driver in the CART Championship Car series

• Michelle MacPherson, Canadian swimmer

In politics

• Ben Macpherson (politician), Scottish politician

• C. B. Macpherson, Canadian academic

• Dean Macpherson, South African politician

• Hector Macpherson, Sr. (1875–1970), Canadian-American agricultural economics professor and politician

• Hector Macpherson, Jr. (1918–2015), American farmer and politician

• James Ian Macpherson, British lawyer and politician

• John Alexander MacPherson, Australian politician

• John MacPherson (governor of India), Scottish administrator in India

• John Thomas Macpherson (1872–1921), English politician

• Malcolm MacPherson (1904–1971), Scottish politician

• Murdoch MacPherson, Canadian politician

• Niall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn, Scottish politician

• Nicholas Macpherson, British civil servant

• Peter MacPherson (1841–1913), Scottish-born Australian politician

• Thomas Macpherson, 1st Baron Macpherson of Drumochter (1888–1965), Scottish politician

In music

• Ben Macpherson, Australian musician

• Christina Macpherson, Australian behind Waltzing Matilda

• Donald Macpherson (piper), Scottish bagpipe player

• Fraser MacPherson, Canadian jazz musician

• , Northern Irish singer

• Graham MacPherson, better known as Suggs (singer), the lead singer of the English band Madness

• Greg MacPherson, Canadian singer-songwriter

• Jim Macpherson, United States percussionist

• Linda Lizotte-MacPherson, Canadian public servant

• Sandy MacPherson, Canadian theatre organist

In literature

• James Alan McPherson, American essayist

• James Macpherson, Scottish poet

• Jay Macpherson, Canadian poet

In show business and news

• Daniel MacPherson (born 1980), Australian actor and television presenter

• Don Macpherson (born 1954), Canadian journalist

• Duncan Macpherson (1924–1993), Canadian editorial cartoonist

• Elle Macpherson (born 1964), Australian supermodel and actress

• Gordon Macpherson (born 1962), Founder of Macpherson Menswear – Palmerston North, New Zealand.

• Hector Macpherson (1851–1924), Scottish journalist and writer

• Jeanie MacPherson (1886–1946), American silent actress, writer and director

• Malcolm MacPherson (1943–2009), American journalist and author

• Myra MacPherson (1934–2026), American journalist and author

• Richard MacPherson, American actor

In military

• Lieutenant Ralph Stewart MacPherson (1896–1964), Canadian Army officer

• Colonel Ronald MacPherson or Ranald MacPherson (1817–1869), architect and colonial administrator

• Colonel Tommy Macpherson, British army officer

• Sir Keith Macpherson Smith, (1890-1955) Australian aviator

• Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AFC (1892–1922) Australian aviator

• Henry Douglas Macpherson (1898-1917) British, WW1 fighter pilot

• Donald McPherson (1922-2025), American WW2 fighter pilot ace.

Others

• Alexander Macpherson, English architect

• Cluny MacPherson, Newfoundland medical doctor and inventor of the gas mask

• Colin MacPherson, Scottish Roman Catholic Bishop of Argyll and the Isles from 1968 to 1990

• Donald Macpherson (disambiguation), several people

• Earle S. MacPherson, the Ford engineer who developed the MacPherson strut in the 1940s

• Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, Scottish Jacobite

• Fiona Macpherson, FRSE, MAE, Scottish Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience, University of Glasgow

• Hector Macpherson (astronomer) (1888–1956), Scottish clergyman and astronomer, son of Hector C. Macpherson

• Ian MacPherson, Canadian historian

• Jamie Macpherson, Scottish outlaw, famed for his lament

• John Macferson, early 18th-century English pirate

• Sir Macpherson Robertson, Australian philanthropist and entrepreneur

• Robert Macpherson (disambiguation), multiple people

• Sir William Macpherson, High Court Judge in England

Fictional characters

• Anya MacPherson, fictional character in Degrassi: The Next Generation

See also

• Clan Macpherson, a Scottish clan

• The Macpherson Report, into the death of Black British teenage Stephen Lawrence

• MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co.

• MacPherson strut, a car suspension system

• MacPherson, Singapore

• Macpherson Stadium (disambiguation)

• McPherson (disambiguation)

References