Anderson Blood

[gilmore]

So you saying that based on the national trust site, which only goes back to 1881, that the majority of those "common names" associated with clan gunn are in fact not? How can one tell based on information that only goes back to 1881. Clan Gunn is one of the oldest clans in scotland and by the definition of the word "sept" the names you state are "associated" with the Gunn Clan. I believe that those names you refer to are ancestors of a lineage of scandinavian (Viking) decent, regardless of geographic distribution in 1881 (well after Great Britain was in existence). Nelson, Wilson, Johnson, etc. may be common "English" or "Anglo" versions of the original name, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are not in fact of Clan Gunn, Clan Mackay (Gunn Neighbors) or any other northern highland clan. The Sept list gives us variations of names associated with the clan, not necessarily "exclusivity" to that clan. (which is not what I was saying in my original post)
I for one know that my family, which was originally Neilson, emmigrated to the new world around 1740 from Scotland due to english persicution and political strife (most likely the clearances). So any geographic "proof" in 1881 would not apply to my family, or many others either who were geographically distributed long before any "cataloging" of names was in existance. "Lore" as you stated is usually based on some kind of fact and The names Neil, Nell, Nail, Nel, and Nael are common scandinavian names. So whether it be MacNeil, MacKay, Gunn, Neilson, or Nelson, or any others you state, my bet is scandinavian decent. SO you are correct in that unless one can trace their ancestry back 500 years to the exact place and group of people, one really doesn't know, however geographic location in 1881 and 1991 doesn't prove or disprove anything.

Although it may not prove so much in a specific case, it proves quite a bit generally. As I said, the Gunn surname is shown to be most prevalent in Caithness in 1881. If you search for other clan names, you will also find them still at that time mostly in the areas with which they are historically associated.

In other words, If you search for Gunn, Robertson, MacDonald or Campbell on the surname profiler http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/Surnames.aspx you will find them at the very same locations in 1881 that they are historically associated with. Why should Anderson, Johnson, Nelson, Robinson and other surnames be different?

I did not say that Johnson, Nelson, Anderson, Robinson and other common names are ALWAYS not associated with the Gunn clan. I said that these common names, not shown to be in Caithness but in great numbers elsewhere, are more likely than not borne by people whose ancestors were not associated with the clan Gunn, absent further evidence. In other words, if your names is, e.g., Robinson, it is more unlikely than likely that your ancestors had any connection with the Gunn clan.

The idea that all those with names associated with the Gunn clan originated in Scandanavia, went to Caithness and then descended into middle and southern Scotland and then England is not at all probable. In fact, recorded history shows the greater numbers of migration were in the opposite direction. Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from what is now the German coast to Northumbria and the Lowlands, then moved north, as did some Norman families.

These days a man of European, especially British, descent, can indeed often trace his surname back 500 years, in a way. Or at least identify living men who are descended from the same man that one is from that time period.

That these names were more likely than not unassociated with the Gunn clan is supported by the DNA evidence. Take a look at the Gunn surname project: http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/g/gunn/results.html

Then compare the Y chromosome test results with those of men named Anderson: http://www.familytreedna.com/(otcr4f...xed_columns=on

Compare the Gunn results with those of men surnamed Robinson: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....obinsonDNA.htm

And compare them with those named Johnson: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/...xed_columns=on

And with the Nelson results: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/...px?fixed_colum

There are six identified groups of Gunn descendants, divided between only two haplogroups, R1b1 and I, with 13 out of 16 in R1b1, one in I and 2 undetermined. The Anderson, Robinson, Nelson and Johnson results are all over the place, PROVING a variety of origins of patrilineal lines bearing those surnames. And the vast majority of them are not close matches to the Gunn surname results, showing definitively that though they may be related in the far, far distant paleolithic past (as are we all---think: most recent common ancestor in or BEFORE the last Ice Age), a cursory glance does not show any matches that would indicate a relationship to any Gunns that is very close at all.


Even a rarer surname, the Robson surname project, http://www.familytreedna.com/public/...xed_columns=on
shows no close matches with the Gunn results.

However, interestingly, the Swanson project results http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/s/...n/results.html show one line that matches the Gunns fairly closely if only in the 12 marker tests. Swanson is one of the eight alleged Gunn sept names that appears mostly in Caithness in 1881.