~*Introduction to the Derivation of Scottish Surnames*~

**Thinking About Scottish Surnames**

– Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot)

~Millions of North Americans are descended from Scottish ancestors. To search successfully for their roots, they need a good foundation of information, including an understanding of the derivation and distribution of Scottish surnames.

The Basics of Scottish Surname Derivation:

Scottish names derive from patronymics (e.g., Robertson), occupations (Burgess), local features or places (Guthrie), and nicknames (Inglis, meaning English). Patronymic names make up a large proportion of Scottish surnames, and use of them lingered in parts of the Highlands well into the 1800s. As for occupational names, only a few spring from Gaelic origins. As for nicknames, not all "Mac" names indicate a clan affiliation, and many fewer of these remain in use today than have existed in the past.

With Scottish surnames, it is worth remembering that the border with England in no way prevented names from crossing over, and that people moved constantly between Ireland and Scotland. Roots of some Scottish surnames can be traced to the followers of William the Conqueror, to Norse and Flemish origins (present-day Belgium), and to several other countries of Europe.

-Surname Variations in Research Materials:

Looking up surnames is almost irresistible; we come across a book about surnames, and we look up a few. How many of us then try to find the name in other surname books or take time to determine the perspective or purpose of the compilers, and then stop to consider the relevance of the information to our own research?

Here are some examples in the form of brief summaries of what can be found for three names in two reference works.

From Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1999 (first published by the New York Public Library, 1946).

Irvine: of territorial origin, Irving in Dumfriesshire and Irvine in Ayrshire; the Dumfriesshire parish was the chief source of the name; the charter of the Barony of Drum dates from 1324; an offshoot of the Aberdeenshire family appears in Shetland in the mid-1500s; in Northern Ireland, the name has become confused with the Irish Erwin. (p. 378)

Blackhall: from the lands of Blackhall in the regality of Garioch, Aberdeenshire; hereditary coroners and foresters for the earldom of the Garioch from before 1400; family declined in the 1600s, and their lands and offices were acquired by the Burnetts. (p. 79)

McPhee: one of the oldest personal names; the home of the clan was probably the island of Colonsay; in Gaelic, it is MacDhubhshith, meaning "black one of peace"; a family in South Uist were known as "black fairy" apparently for their knowledge of the fairies. (p. 493)

From Dorward, David. Scottish Surnames. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 1995.

Irvine: one and the same as Irving; from the place in Ayrshire, meaning green water (from the Brittonic ir afon); widespread in Scotland since the late Medieval period; The Irvines of Drum were the most important landed family of the name; at some point it migrated to Ireland. (p. 156)

Blackhall: no listing

McPhee: a form of MacDhubhshith which means "son of the Black Fairy"; established in South Uist and Colonsay; the MacPhees were record keepers to the Lords of the Isles; their chief was murdered in 1623, and the clan dispersed; many of this name were tinkers roving the fringes of the Highlands. (p. 231)

If nothing else, these variations show that acceptance of the explanation in one reference book is unwise, and that there are hazards in attempting to interpret and explain origins of surnames. In this example, both Black and Dorward caution against relying upon simple definitions and provide information on early written references. Black did extensive research into the earliest written forms of surnames and briefly notes the type of record, the date, and the place for many. He also lists variations (there are forty-five for Irvine). Dorward offers early historical references as well.

-Personal Research Tips:

If there is good reason to be skeptical about what books have to say, there is, also, a good deal to be gained by carrying out personal surname research. This is especially helpful when the proverbial roadblock appears, as it no doubt will. Names can be uncommon in one place and common in another, or common at one time and uncommon at another. Early on, it is advisable to investigate distribution, both in Scotland as a whole, and in the geographic area where research is concentrated. The various indexes to Scottish parish registers are readily accessible and are ideal tools for such an exercise.

It is also helpful to learn something about variations and changes in names and how they came about. For example, some parishes had very few surnames amongst the inhabitants; Gaelic names were translated and anglicized; the "Mac" was dropped from many names; and some Gaelic names disappeared when families moved to the Lowlands and chose something else. Careful study of local documents such as church registers will help in following the changes.

For example, the village of Findochty in Banffshire had, among 182 families, just four surnames: Flett, Sutherland, Smith, and Campbell (Black, Surnames of Scotland, p. xxxii). There were not a lot of forenames either, so many people bore the same name. To cope with the confusion, the inhabitants invented nicknames ("to-names") or, in a written record, inserted the name of a wife or parent to distinguish one from another. In some fishing villages, the name of the fisherman's boat would be added to his name.

In Argyllshire among the changes recorded for Gaelic names include McIlvernock changing to Graham and McNewcater to Walker (Glasgow and West of Scotland FHS, Argyll People, 1999, p.25). Looking only for alternate spellings is of no help in a case like this. Gaelic was declining in use, and a local official faced with writing difficult names in a register or minute book opted for something simpler.

With respect to Scottish names, the most common questions by those inexperienced in genealogical research are about clans and tartans. Many people assume that if their name is Scottish, they must have both, and it must be easy to look it up in a book. Septs (an Irish term meaning "division") of clans are fewer in number than many books describe, and not every family has a tartan associated with it. A good place to begin looking for more information is the Collins Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia (George Way and P. Squire, HarperCollins, 1994).

~~Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) has been researching her British ancestry for twenty-five years. She began lecturing in 1984 and has operated Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services since 1988. She is the author of Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans and Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans.

**The Origin of Scottish Surnames**

The whole subject of Scottish surnames, and their connection with kinship, is surrounded by complications. Professional etymologists have attempted to classify how Scottish names came about. And, whereas the work is largely successful, the many exceptions and the metamorphosis of names make the study of Scottish names an unfinished one.

Place-Names

The use of surnames seems to have commenced in France about the year 1000, and surnames were introduced into Scotland through the Normans a little over one hundred years later, although the custom of using them was hardly common The first official reference to the practice is from a general council held at Forfar in 1061, during the reign of Malcolm Ceannmor (1057- 1093). Malcolm directed his chief subjects to create surnames from the names of their territorial possessions.

Thus, the first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames were the nobles and great landowners who called themselves, or were called by others, after the lands they possessed. The form of the names was Norman "de"; for instance, Robert de Brus (Brus in Normandy), John de Balliol (Balleul-en-Vimeu in Picard), William de Buchan (Buchan in Scotland), Christopher de Seton (Sayton in Scotland), William de Kirkhaugh (Kirkhaugh in Northumberland), etc. One interesting example comes from the surname of Maxwell. Sometimes confused with the Norman, Maccusville, the name actually came from Maccus, the son of Unwin, a Saxon lord, who obtained a salmon pool on the river Tweed near Kelso Bridge. The pool was then called Maccus's wiel (pool). The adjacent lands got the name, and the descendants of Maccus became known as, "de" Maccuswel, and, subsequently, became the powerful Maxwell family of Dumfriesshire and Galloway.

But, since not too many persons held significant lands, place-names quickly began to refer to the region or district from where a family originated. For example, Andrew de Moravia (of Moray), William de Douglas (of Douglas - dubh glas), Adam de Haddyngton (of Haddington), etc. As the need for a surname became more pressing, residents of the burghs often adopted street names, such as, Henry de Fishergate, Henry de Cunigstrete, etc.

So, the first surnames were place-names and originated with a man who lived in or came from a place, sometimes a big district like Moray (Murray) or Lothian, often a small rural community. A proprietor was particularly likely to take his name from his estate, but tenants also often took their names from the estate where they lived. Clearly many individuals, and ultimately of families, could originate in the same place, and take their names from it without being related to each other. Besides, the same or similar names were given to different places, and so individuals or families who came from different parts of the country, and shared neither blood nor territorial affinity, could nevertheless have the same surname. Thus, anyone called Calder (or its variant, Caddell) may derive from an ancestor resident in Calder in West Lothian, Calder (or Cadder) in Lanarkshire, Calder (or Cawdor) in Nairnshire, or Calder in Caithness. Similarly, there is no necessary relationship among the many families called Blair, a place-name which occurs in at least a dozen different areas.

Official and Trade Names

There are surnames that derive from a craft, occupation, or official station Smith, which is the most common name in Scotland, is an outstanding example Wright, Baxter or Baker, Tailor, Carpenter, Mason, Shepherd, Slater, are among many others. It would clearly be an unparalleled absurdity to think that one smith was the ancestor of all the people now bearing the name Smith The same is true when a name of this type arose in the Highlands, where a designation Coinneach Gobha (Kenneth the smith) produced the surname Gow. The Norman form of these names was "le"; so for example, from the Ragman Roll: Symon le Glover, Robert le Taillor, Walter le Goldsmith, Aleyn le Barbur, William le Barker, etc. As with the "de" in the place-names, the "le was eventually dropped, giving us the modern form of the names.

Many offices were hereditary in feudal as well as in later times. The Stewarts, for example, were the first to be named after their office alone. Although, the first Stewart, Alan, had a son who called himself Walter Fitz Alan, and his son called himself Alan Fitz-Walter.

Offices associated with hunting and the king's lands yielded many names, for example: Forest, Warren, Hunt, Park, Woodward, etc.

To-Names

The great prevalence of certain surnames, in some small towns and villages, led to the use of to-names, "other names," from the Old English, t-nama. To illustrate this, Black cites the following story.

A stranger had occasion to call on a fisherman, named Alexander White, living in a Buchan fishing village. But the stranger was ignorant both of the fisherman's to-name and his house. Unfortunately there were many persons of that name in the village. Meeting a young woman, he asked:

"Cou'd you tell me fa'r Sanny Fite lives?"

"Filk Sanny Fite?"

"Muckle Sanny Fite."

"Filk muckle Sanny Fite?"

"Muckle lang Sanny Fite."

"Filk muckle lang Sanny Fite?"

"Muckle lang gleyed Sanny Fite," shouted the stranger.

"Oh! It's 'Goup-the-lift' ye're seeking," cried the young woman, "and fat the deevil for dinna ye speer for the man by his richt name at ance?"

Translation:

"Could you tell me where Alexander White lives?"

"Which Alexander White?"

"Big Alexander White."

"Which big Alexander White?"

"Big tall Alexander White."

"Which big tall Alexander White?"

"Big tall cross-eyed Alexander White," shouted the stranger.

"Oh! It's '(Stupidly gaping person)-the-thief' you're seeking," cried the young woman, "and why the devil didn't you ask for the man by his right name in the first place?"

Another example from the Borders shows how difficult it can be for a researcher to identify persons if the researcher doesn't know that: John Bell was called Quhitheid, Edward Bell was called the Dansair, John Bell was called Ranyis Johnne, and Andrew Irvin was called Tailyeour curst Geordie.

So accustomed were many Scots to being recognized only by their to-name that it became their official name. Familiar examples are: Black, Little, White, Campbell (caimbeul or crooked- mouthed), Cameron (camshron or crooked-nosed) and Meikle (big). Clearly, almost any surname of this type could arise quite independently at different times and in different places. So, again, caution should be taken in arguing a relationship between persons simply because of the similarity in their names.

Patronymic Names

These are the names usually represented in Lowland Scotland by the suffix, son. But with them must be taken the forenames, which became surnames, and are really truncated patronymics, such as, Henry, Mitchell (for Michael) and Arthur. The development of names of this type was more subtle than it was in the first three categories. Designations changed generation by generation. Robert's son might be John Robertson, his son Andrew Johnson, his son Peter Anderson, etc. This system was general in all the northern lands, and it extended to women, with forms that would translate as, for example, Elspeth Johnsdaughter. In Shetland, patronymic names persisted in many families until the nineteenth century, so that there are examples such as, Arthur Anderson, son of Andrew Robertson, or James Manson, son of Magnus Oalson.

Strangely, women sometimes used the suffix, son, as in Isabella Johnson, daughter of John Williamson.

Throughout most of Lowland Scotland, genuine patronymic practice ended after the fifteenth century. This happened when an individual decided, or some authority decided for him, that he would adopt his father's patronymic as his own surname. Thus, the son of John Robertson called himself not Andrew Johnson but Andrew Robertson. And from that point, Robertson became the surname of his descendants. It was clearly a matter of chance in which generation the patronymic became the final surname. So that in the example just given, had the decision been taken a generation later, the surname of the family would have been Johnson, not Robertson.

The above example shows the dangers of attempting to use surnames of patronymic form as guides to remote ancestry. Half-a-dozen Robertsons are probably descended from half-a-dozen different Roberts who lived in different parts of the country at different times, and have no kinship with each other. It is only by chance that they are called "Robertson" and not Johnson or Anderson.

In the Highlands and Galloway, where "son of" was denoted by the prefix, Mac rather than by the suffix, son, patronymic names were more common than they were in the Lowlands. The Mac could be prefixed to craft names as well as to forenames, giving, for example, Mac an t-saoir, son of the joiner, which became Macintyre, also, for example, the group of names denoting descent from an ecclesiastic: Macnab, Mactaggart, Macpherson and Macvicar, meaning son of the abbot, the priest, the parson, and the vicar, respectively.

Names were sometimes carried into two or three stages by using Vic (Mhic, the genitive of Mac). Sixteenth-century examples are Angus MacDonald Vic Angus, son of Donald MacAngus, and Alastair MacAllane Vic Ane Vic Coull. Here is an interesting example from 1617: Hector MacGorrie Vic Achan Vic Allester Vic Ean duff, son of Gorrie MacAchan Vic Allester Vic Ean duff. In women's names, Nean (nighean), meaning "daughter of" could replace Mac, giving patronymics like Margaret nean Ean glas Vic Ilespig.

Names of this type, recorded in official registers, were not surnames, and, while individuals so recorded may have had surnames, their surnames were not used in the record. Identification may consequently be difficult for the researcher. For instance, but for their territorial designation of Lochiel, how would anyone know that the men recorded in the mid-sixteenth century as Ewan Allanson, John Dow, his son, and Ewan, his grandson, were in fact all Camerons?

The use of genuine patronymics in records continued well into the eighteenth century. For example, in South Uist, in 1721, there were names like Jonn MacEwan Vic Ean Vic Charles, and Murdo MacNeil Vic Ean Vic Duill. In some Highland families the prefix Mac meant not only son of but also descendant of. Such a patronymic, persisting generation by generation, became a surname An example is MacDonald. Angus of the Isles, in the later thirteenth century, was the son of Donald, and his successors retained MacDonald, not so much as a surname in the modern sense, but as a mark of their descent. However, most of the many MacDonalds of later times had no kinship with the descendants of Angus, or necessarily descended from anyone called Donald.

The process by which the genuine surname replaced personal designations that changed from generation to generation, took a long time to complete. There are instances throughout the sixteenth century, in almost any part of the country, that show some people with more than one designation, and it is difficult to say which, if any, of the designations was a real surname. If a man had a name of patronymic form and a craft name, like Robertson or Pottar it is difficult to tell which is a genuine patronymic and which is no more than the name of his actual occupation. William Davidson or Litstar, and Matthew Paterson or Litstar, were both priests, but the Litstar (i.e. dyer) is the surname. In the case of Andrew Wilson or Tailor, the son of Andrew Wilson, the name Wilson was the surname, not Tailor. Also there are surnames originating from a place-name combined with a patronymic, such as Alexander Murray or Anguson.

Miscellaneous Naming

Under the Clan system, prevailing on the Borders and in the Highlands, men often assumed the names of their chieftains or feudal superiors. There was a compelling reason for this sometimes, as when the earl of Menteith -- for some reason -- declared war against all men, except the king and those of the name of Graham. This attracted considerable popularity to that surname in the district of the Lennox and Menteith. But, because of the adoption of Clan names, when a man moved from one estate to another, he might change his name. In the 1750's, John MackDonell was really a Campbell, having changed his name to that of MacDonnel upon coming to live in the bounds and under the protection of the MacDonnel family of Glengary. The use of the landlord s name explains why, in the 1580s, a servant of the Earl of Huntly was called, Gordon or Page -- Gordon because his master, Huntly, was a Gordon and Page, he (or an ancestor) being a page.

I think that there is a preoccupation in this country with trying to be identified as a descendant of a Highland family or Clan. The fact that, at any given time, the Highlands represented a small minority of the population of Scotland, should make it obvious that most persons of Scottish extraction came from lowland families. When discussing this with people I meet, I usually am told that some family ancestor had a Highland name. From what has been written here so far, it should be clear that this use of name to establish a relationship is suspect.

Further, many Highland names are also lowland names. Gordon is a particularly good example of a name usually regarded as a Highland Clan name without there being any grounds for considering it so. The name originated with Richer de Gordun, lord of the barony of Gordon in the Merse. But when a branch of the family later settled in Strathbogie, the whole country around soon became full of men calling themselves Gordon. This name is now widespread throughout Scotland, and there is even a Polish family of Gordon. Generally speaking, if you think you have descended from a Highland family, or Clan, you are probably wrong.

Occasionally there is a switch from one kind of designation to another. In the 1470's, the three sons of Thomas Soutar were David, John and Thomas Thomson, and whether their descendants were Soutars or Thomsons is unknown. There was, also, an inclination for people to give up the more outlandish names to adopt names that were familiar or distinguished. It seems, to take a curious example, that the Scandinavian, Sigurdsson, which became Shuardson in Shetland, was Scotticised as Stewartson and finished as Stewart. So, not all Stewarts were related to a Stewart king. Further some Stewarts probably descended from the stewards of this or that estate, not from royal stewards.

Name changes sometimes occurred on inheriting or otherwise acquiring landed property. Sometimes charters even specified that the proprietor must bear a certain name. For similar reasons, husbands sometimes took their wives' names. In any of such cases, the surname ceases to be a guide to more remote ancestry.

In ancestral research, variations in the spelling of a name can be confusing particularly if there is no significance in variant spellings of the same name. For example, prior to sixteen hundred, my ancestors' family name was spelled, Kirkhaugh, Kirkhaucht, Kirkalch, Kirkhalche, Kirkhaulch, Kirkhauch, Kyrkhauch, and Kyrkhalch; all of which would have sounded alike when spoken. Also, in Highland names, there is no significance in the variation between Mac and Mc, and between the use of a capital or a small letter in the second part of the name, such as, MacLean and Maclean. The variation in spelling is easy to understand when one realizes that most people in the middle ages could not read or write. If a person could not spell their name, someone recording the name did so phonetically. Different scribes used different spellings, and the same scribe might use different spellings within the same document. Even an individual might spell his own name in different ways on different occasions. In fact, until about two and a half centuries ago, the spelling of proper names, and many other words, was quite arbitrary.

So no significance should be attached to different spellings as indicative of ancestry or relationship. It sometimes was simply a matter of chance that a family adopted a particular spelling, while other families, possibly closely related to them, adopted different spellings.

On the other hand, similar spellings of different names may lead a researcher astray. Livingston is a Lowland name, of West Lothian origin, but Livingstone is a Highland name, and there is no relation between the two. Similarly, Johnson is a patronymic name, but Johnston derives from John's toun or settlement, while Johnstone might originate in the name of some landmark. Some Camerons -- perhaps most -- are Highland Camerons from Lochiel, but others take their names from the places called Cameron in Lothian and Fife. Dewar and Shaw are other examples of names with distinct Highland and Lowland origins, and Dunn, while it may derive from the Gaelic, donn, may equally well derive from the place Dun, in Angus. The distinction between a Highland and Lowland origin has often been effaced when a Gaelic name has been translated into English, so that MacNeacail becomes Nicolson, and MacGille-mhoire becomes Morison -- which means that they are added to the host of unrelated patronymics spanning the whole country, with no affinity among them.

Compilers of official records did not always have a consistent preference for a surname, and when there was consistency, it was often based on utilitarian considerations, by using a designation that most clearly identified the individual. On the other hand, it may be that the official recording of names had a certain influence in stabilizing surnames, and in some areas the establishment of the Register of Sasines in 1617 clearly had some effect. Variation of names further declined because ministers, in their registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, preferred names which they did not feel was outlandish. In the Highlands, many names indicative of remote ancestry were lost because ministers had difficulty in recording Gaelic names unfamiliar to them. They substituted names which had well established Anglicized forms.

Variations that survived into the nineteenth century were further curbed by the compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths in 1855. Registrars began to insist that individuals use the same surname as his father.

Forenames

Naming conventions of the forename (Christian name) can sometimes help in the tracing of families. A very widespread custom was for the eldest legitimate son to be named after his paternal grandfather, the second son after his maternal grandfather, and the third son after his father. The eldest daughter took the name of her maternal grandmother, the second, that of her paternal Grandmother, and the third was named after her mother. Mothers' or grandmothers' surnames were sometimes used as forenames for boys: Graham, Murray, etc. But even with these conventions difficulties can arise. For example, my grandfather named my father, William. My father named me, William, I named my eldest son William, and he must now name his eldest son William, and so on forever. Within a few generations, with early marriages and long lives, it may become difficult to sort out the individuals.

Also, it was a not an uncommon practice in the late Middle Ages for two brothers to have the same forename; a custom which has caused confusion for genealogists. There were two Davids in the family of the father of Cardinal Beaton. One of my own ancestral families had two Williams. But William de Viteri Ponte had three sons named William, distinguished as, Willelmus primogenitus, Willelmus medius, and Willelmus junior. King James V had three illegitimate sons named James, and on 26 February 1532 he wrote to Pope Clement VII asking him to declare them eligible to hold ecclesiastical dignities.

I think that there are two principal reasons why these duplicates came about besides caprice. Sometimes a child died young, and the duplicate named brother was his replacement in the family. But perhaps most commonly, was the necessity of naming a child after each of its grandparents, and, as both happened to have the same forename, the only way of bestowing the honour and getting out of the difficulty was by having the double set.

Bibliography

Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origins, Meanings, and History New York: Publishing Center for Cultural Resources, 1946.

Jamieson, John. A dissertation on the origin of the Scottish language. In Jamieson's dictionary of the Scottish language Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1867.

Kirk, William L., Jr. From Kirkhaugh to Kirk In The Augustan Society Omnibus Book 13, ed. Sir Rodney Hartwell. Torrance: Directors of the Society, 1991. 134-136.

Maxwell, Sir Herbert. A history of Dumfries and Galloway Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1900.

Scottish Naming Customs Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society Newsletter. November 1988, p. 10.

William L. Kirk, Jr., Ph.D. [1 July 1992]

Chief of Name, Clan McViccar

The twenty first century brings new challenges to our historic families rightful place among the recognized Chieftains of Scotland.

Many of us have for years attempted to trace each branch of the family to preserve family traditions and serve as genealogist for our specific branch.

Jim MacVicar lists five branches of our family in his book “Precious are the Ties that Bind,” Angus John MacVicar discusses three branches in his book, “Sons of the Eagle,” and in the history of the MacNaughtens they discuss Mac Vicars of Fortingall as likely Mac Vicars of Gregory? In the outer Orkneys they have a history, which describes the Clan of the Eagles, and in accient Gallic manuscripts of 1450 we find that there is a reference to our clan in the genealogy of Clan Mac Earcherns descendents of Murdoch, and Clan Beaton Mougaillain mc Gillpaduig or Clan of the vow presumed are the Mac Vicars of Argyllshire.

With all of these diverse and scattered families we need to all pull the loose ends together and strive to determine who the respective Clan Chiefs are and possibly determine a Commander of the Clan.

Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, Bt., Rothesay Herald of Arms, Lyon Court published an article in the Highlander magazine which we might use as a reference for the task of establishing a Commander. He states that the appointment of a Commander of the Clan is to fill the vacancy created by a dormant chieftainship. The Commanders job is to “perform all acts and functions proper to the Commander of the said Clan in the personal absence of the Hereditary Chief” and “to preserve the spirit, kinship, clanship and traditions of the said Clan.” He goes on to describe the requirements of Scottish law and to clearly state that we will need to form a “Clan derbfine that consists of the armigerous members of the clan, and the members of the clan who own landed estate in Scotland.” Further a quorum for the derbfine is “usually five persons of landed estates which is intended to mean those who own a farm or a larger estate.” Because we are currently not in a position to know who may be the rightful Chief of each Branch, or the Chief of Name, and who within each branch may meet the landed estate requirements, have an opportunity to petition Lyon Court for a Commanded to organization the official search and bring together the various branches to meet the Courts requirements.

I ask all those who have an interest in pursuing this endeavor please contact us at virgilmc@earthlink.net . If we can generate enough interest I’m confident that it is likely we can and well succeed in this task.

Branches of the family include but are not limited to:

Mc Viccars of Argyll

Mac Vicars of Kintyre

Mac Vicars of Uist

Mc Vickers of Glasgow

Mac Vicars of Harris

Within branches there are sub sets of families as Jim MacVicar describes in his book, Chapter ten. Further, all spellings of our name should participate in this effort.

~~**THE BRITISH VERSION OF SURNAMES**~~

**BEFORE SURNAMES**

'What is in a name? Very much if the wit of man could find it out.' Whoever penned this well known saying undoubtedly had it right - in England alone there are around 45,000 different surnames - each with a history behind it.

The sources from which names are derived are almost endless: nicknames, physical attributes, counties, trades, heraldic charges, and almost every object known to mankind. Tracing a family tree in practice involves looking at lists of these names - this is how we recognise our ancestors when we find them.
Before the Norman Conquest of Britain, people did not have hereditary surnames: they were known just by a personal name or nickname.
'Many individuals and families have changed their names or adopted an alias at some time in the past'
When communities were small each person was identifiable by a single name, but as the population increased, it gradually became necessary to identify people further - leading to names such as John the butcher, William the short, Henry from Sutton, Mary of the wood, Roger son of Richard. Over time many names became corrupted and their original meaning is now not easily seen.
After 1066, the Norman barons introduced surnames into England, and the practice gradually spread. Initially, the identifying names were changed or dropped at will, but eventually they began to stick and to get passed on. So trades, nicknames, places of origin, and fathers' names became fixed surnames - names such as Fletcher and Smith, Redhead and Swift, Green and Pickering, Wilkins and Johnson. By 1400 most English families, and those from Lowland Scotland, had adopted the use of hereditary surnames.
Most Saxon and early Celtic personal names - names such Oslaf, Oslac, Oswald, Oswin and Osway ('Os' meaning God) - disappeared quite quickly after the Norman invasion. It was not fashionable, and possibly not sensible either, to bear them during those times, so they fell out of use and were not often passed on as surnames. However, some names from before the Norman Conquest survived long enough to be inherited directly as surnames, including the Anglo-Saxon Cobbald (famous-bold).
New surnames continued to be formed long after 1400, and immigrants brought in new ones. Many Irish and Highland Scottish names derive from Gaelic personal names, as do those of the Welsh, who only began to adopt the English system of surnames following the union of the two countries in 1536. This is all too far back to be helpful in researching family origins, although the study of a particular surname may be useful when the investigation points to an area where it appears often.
Many individuals and families have changed their names or adopted an alias at some time in the past. This could be for legal reasons, or simply on a whim, but points up the fact that although the study of surnames is vital in family history research, it is all too easy to place excessive emphasis on them.
Your surname may be derived from a place, such as Lancaster, for example, or an occupation, such as Weaver, but this is not necessarily of relevance to your family history. You could be in the position of the prime minister, Tony Blair, whose ancestor acquired his name from adoptive or foster parents.
Another complication is that sometimes two different names can appear to be the same one, being similar in sound, but different in origin. The fairly common name of Collins is an example of this. It comes from an Irish clan name, but it is also one of several English surnames derived from the personal name Nicolas.
Thus you can see that only by tracing a particular family line, possibly back to the 14th century or beyond, will you discover which version of a surname is yours. It is more important to be aware that both surnames and forenames are subject to variations in spelling, and not only in the distant past. Standardised spelling did not really arrive until the 19th century, and even in the present day variations occur, often by accident - how much of your post has your name spelt incorrectly?

**Local names**
Surnames deriving from a place are probably the oldest and most common. They can be derived from numerous sources - country, town or estate - or from features in the landscape - hill, wood or stream. Many of these names, and their derivation are obvious, other less so. The names Pickering, Bedford, Berkley and Hampshire might have been given to migrants who left those places during the period of surname formation, or they may have been the names of the landowners where the individuals lived.
'Features of the landscape gave rise to many surnames'
Many people took their name from their farm or hamlet. This was particularly the case in those counties where occupation was scattered, and the Pennines and Devon have more than their share of distinctive names.
Countries give us names such as French, Beamish (Bohemian), Britten, Fleming, Hannay (Hainault), Janeway (Genoese), Lubbock (Lubeck) and Moore (Morocco), among many others. And it's interesting that Blackmore, Morys, Moris, Morris, Morice, Morrice, Maurice, Moorish and Mountmorris are themselves all further forms of Moore.
Nearly every county, town, riding, hundred, wapentake, village, hamlet and even single house, at any date, has given its name. Again, most are obvious, but there are some surprises - such as Bristowe (both Bristol and Burstow in Surrey), and Vyse (Devizes or a dweller on the boundary). Thorpe means a village and there are numerous names derived from the word borough - examples are Boroughs, Bury, Burg, Burke, Bourke, Borrow and Burrowes.
Features of the landscape gave rise to many surnames. There are very many names derived from hill. In addition to Hill and Hills there are: Hull, Athill, Holt, Wold, Noll, Knollys, Knolles, Ness, Thill and Knill. Similarly we have Wood, Woods, Greenwood, Woodman, Woodruffe, Woodcutter and Attwood.
Many names come from rivers and streams: Surtees (on the Tees), Pickersgill (a stream with a pike in it), Hope and Holm (raised land in a fen), Fleet (estuary or stream), Burn and Bourne (a stream) and Sike and Sykes (a marshy stream).
Trees give names such as Leaf, Bark and Root, as well as Stock, Zouch and Curzon which all mean a stem. Then there are Elmes, Hazelthwaite and Maples, and oak alone gives rise to Oakley, Oakerley, Noakes, Oakham, Ockham, and many others, with Cheynes and Chenies coming from the French for oak, un chène.
**
Occupations**
Other surnames were formed from a person's job or trade. The three most common English names are Smith, Wright and Taylor. Cook and Turner are also very common.
A name ending in -man or -er can usually imply a trade, as in Chapman (shopkeeper), and obvious occupation names are Goldsmith, Nailor, Potman, Belringer, Hornblower, Fiddler, Brewer, Piper, Baker and so forth. Among the less obvious are Latimer (interpreter), Leech (physician), Barker (tanner), Jenner (engineer), Milner (miller rather than milliner), Lorimer (bridle and bit maker), Pargiter, Pargetter and Dauber (plasterer), Bannister (bath keeper), and Crowther and Crowder (stringed instrument player).
'The arts gave us Painter, Fiddler, Harper, Piper and Player.'
The rarer occupational names are sometimes restricted in their distribution, as are other names that possibly originated with only one or two families. For example, the Arkwrights (makers of arks or chests) are from Lancashire, the Crappers (croppers) and Frobishers (furbishers or cleaners of armour) are from Yorkshire, and the Dymonds (dairymen) are from Devon. On the other hand, some distinctive names were influenced by more prolific occupational names, and names that started out as Goldsmith, Combsmith or Smithson may have become simply Smith.
Occupational names will differ in frequency in certain areas for several reasons. The geography of a district may favour one or more specific industries such as stone-masonry, thatching or fishing and the distribution of Mason, Thatcher and Fisher will reflect this. Thatcher also gives rise to Thacker, Thackery, Thackwray, and also Reedand Reader.
The more prolific 12th- to 14th-century building skills are represented by Wright, Slater, Leadbeater, Carpenter and Plummer. With no real brick industry during this period the surname Brick or Bricker does not exist - Brickman derives from the Norse 'brigg' meaning bridge.
Similarly with names derived from military occupations, there are no names from firearms, only those derived from the weaponry and occupations around in these early centuries. Such names include Knight, Squire, Archer, Bowman, Fletcher (arrow maker), Pike and the ubiquitous Smith.
The arts gave us Painter, Fiddler, Harper, Piper and Player. And from the church we have Pope, Bishop, Monk and Abbott. However, these are most likely to have been nicknames rather than actual occupations, as with King. Or possibly they originated from performers in the Mystery or other religious plays.

*Nicknames*
Sometimes a nickname became a hereditary surname. Names such as Fox, from the crafty animal, or White, perhaps from the hair or complexion, are widespread. However, the pronounced regional distribution of names such as Nice in Essex or Wildgoose in Derbyshire suggests single family origins. In some cases, nicknames are from Norman-French words, such as Papillon (dainty or inconsistent, from butterfly) or Foljambe (deformed leg).
Names deriving from plants and animals are almost certainly nicknames - such as Catt, Sparrow and Oak - but may also be location names or even occupations. But most nicknames come from colour, complexion or form - names such as Armstrong and Strongitharm, Heavyside, Quickly, Slowman, Smallman, Fairfax and Blunt (fair-haired).
Other examples of nicknames derive from personal or moral qualities, for example Good, Goodchild, Thoroughgood, Allgood, Toogood and Goodenough. Other examples are Joly, Jolibois and Joliffe, or Kennard (royal-brave). And some - such as Puttock (greedy) or Coe (jackdaw) - show contempt or ridicule.
The surname Blake may seem fairly straightforward but there are two derivations. Firstly as a variation of Black, a descriptive name for someone of dark appearance, and secondly originating as the Old English word, blac meaning wan or fair - two completely opposite meanings. In Wiltshire, the surname Black is not a common one, greatly outnumbered by Blake.

*Baptismal names*
Many baptismal or Christian names have become surnames without any change. A son may have acquired his surname by adding -s or -son to his father's name. The first method was favoured in the south of England and in the western border counties (where the practice was later copied by the Welsh), while the second was preferred in the northern half of England and lowland Scotland, and was a late development. Occasionally, -son was added to a mother's names, as in Mallinson and Tillotson - both from Matilda.
'The son of William might therefore end up with the surname Williams or Williamson'

The small pool of personal names meant that pet forms and shortened versions were commonly used, and that many of these nicknames became surnames. Some were rhyming forms, such as Dobson, Hobson and Robson (based on the pet form of Robert). Others were pet forms with -kin, -cock or -ot added.

The son of William might therefore end up with the surname Williams or Williamson, but other possibilities include Will, Willett, Wills, Willis, Willimott, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Wilcox or Wilcockson. Other baptismal or personal names may have been extended to become a form of nickname, for example Littlejohn, Micklejohn (largest/eldest-John), Prettejohn (handsome John), Applejohn (orchard John) and Brownjohn.

In Wales the 'patronymic' system of taking the father's forename as the child's surname, therefore a change at each generation, continued in some communities until the 17th century. Evan Griffith could be the son of Griffith Rhys, who was himself the son of Rhys Howell - this being written as Evan ap Griffith ap Rhys ap Howell. 'Ap' meaning 'son of,' just as with Up-, O'-, Fitz-, Witz- and Sky-.

Over time, names such as Ap Rhys, Ap Howell and Ap Richard could become liaised to become Preece or Price, Powell and Pritchard.