The Scottish and Irish surname McNees is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Mac Naois, a patronymic from a shortened form of the personal name Aonghus. The personal name Aonghus is composed of the Celtic words aon meaning “one’ and  gus meaning “choice.” The name was borne by an Irish god and a famous 8th-century Pictish king. It is also the name of a county on Tayside in Scotland. A notable bearer of the name is the Australian cricket player Darren Alexander McNees. There are 1400 bearers of the name McNees living in the United States.