Origins of septs.....

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I think that we, as a people, sometimes "over think" the simplest of things. One of those things we over think is how our name is spelled, and what it means vis-a-vis clan association. The simple fact is that in the 17th and 18th century many Scots either dropped the "mac" from their name and added "son" to it (Macdonald becoming Donaldson) or discarded it altogether, as in McDonald becoming simply "Donald". Skene, writting more than 175 years ago, was well aware of this, living as he did at a time when within living memory many people had adopted new variants of their traditional "family" name by Anglicizing it.

Unless there is incontrovertible proof otherwise, I would tend to say that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct explanation.

[Frank McGrath]

My wife has been researching my family name. I found a connection to Scotland. Two McGrath brothers were said to have been kicked out of Ireland for some reason and went to live in Scotlan, where they were taken in by Members of Clan MacRae. Story has it that the brothers became to enforcers for the Clan. That is the only reference I have to McGraths in Scotland. Every time I put in my name, McGrath, I am told that it is a sept of MacRae.

[SlackerDrummer]

It is amazing to me, though, how sometimes "the system" gets it right. The surname Isbister is said to be a sept of Clan Sinclair. My own ancestor, Hugh Isbister, did in fact come from Orkney which would have put him right there in Clan Sinclair territory. All non-clan surnames, however, I would take with a grain of salt without some idea of the region of origin.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

My wife has been researching my family name. I found a connection to Scotland. Two McGrath brothers were said to have been kicked out of Ireland for some reason and went to live in Scotlan, where they were taken in by Members of Clan MacRae. Story has it that the brothers became to enforcers for the Clan. That is the only reference I have to McGraths in Scotland. Every time I put in my name, McGrath, I am told that it is a sept of MacRae.

Macrea from the Gaelic "Mac Rath", which is not a million miles away from MacGrath. To my way of thinking it would seem that M'Grath is more likely a varient spelling of M'Rae based on a phonetic translation from Gaelic to English.

[EagleJCS]

All non-clan surnames, however, I would take with a grain of salt without some idea of the region of origin.

Even folks with clan surnames have to ponder at times. Mine, for instance (Scott) might be Scottish (for the Borders Clan Scott), it might be Irish, or it might be English, with none of the three remotely related to another.

I have yet to determine which MY family comes from, as the (backwards) trail gets a bit muddled in the mid to late 1700's. (A few individuals of the same name - two Alexanders and three James's - settled in the same area at the same time, but came from different places, making it difficult to determine which family group is which.) Fortunately (or not, as you prefer), the Clan Scott Society is not so discriminating and accepts any and all with a tie to the name (or one of the accepted septs), regardless of origin.

[Sammac]

I also have been wondering about clan associations. My family name is listed as a sept of the Campbells, but I've been told that my great-grandfather came from Skye. Also I read somewhere ( can't place where) that there are 3 distinct MacDiarmid families that are not related. I'm trying to trace where in Skye my gg-dad came from, then maybe I can find some answers as there are still some MacDiarmids in Skye today.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I also have been wondering about clan associations. My family name is listed as a sept of the Campbells, but I've been told that my great-grandfather came from Skye. Also I read somewhere ( can't place where) that there are 3 distinct MacDiarmid families that are not related. I'm trying to trace where in Skye my gg-dad came from, then maybe I can find some answers as there are still some MacDiarmids in Skye today.

Something that should be borne in mind is that simply because a name may be associated with a specific geographic location, it does not mean that the name won't/can't occur elsewhere in Scotland. Likewise, some of the "clan rivalries" which are nourished by the diaspora are really, like clan tartans, an invention of 19th century authors-- Scott, Stevenson, Porter, etc.-- and had little basis in day-to-day living in the Highlands.

[Dale Seago]

Macrea from the Gaelic "Mac Rath", which is not a million miles away from MacGrath. To my way of thinking it would seem that M'Grath is more likely a varient spelling of M'Rae based on a phonetic translation from Gaelic to English.

I was thinking the same thing. . .

[Sammac]

Unfortunately, one of my dad's uncles was the last formal historian and when he passed away his wife, who did not like the family moved back to upstate NY and took 400+ yrs of family history with her. That was over 50 yrs ago.