Help with name McNurlen

[slohairt]

It's certainly possible that it is the same name as McNarland, which is Anglicised from Mac an Fhirleighinn, meaning 'son of the lector'. (Pronounced MAC AN ER-LAY-IN)

[mcnurlenj]

Thanks I'll try this, unfortunatly most of the people who know are now gone. I have a great aunt((?)Grandfathers sister) who has been working on this but her side of the family and mine dont play well together and she wont share.

[macwilkin]

Thanks I'll try this, unfortunatly most of the people who know are now gone. I have a great aunt((?)Grandfathers sister) who has been working on this but her side of the family and mine dont play well together and she wont share.

Then do it on your own. While family members are always a good place to start, they are not the only source available. Visit your local public library and see if they have a genealogy department than can help you with data from obituaries, census records, etc. You can also see if there is a local genealogical society. Both may offer free classes on basic genealogy. There are also online resources (that may be available again through the public library) that you could use like ancestry.com and heritagequest.

Remember that even family stories can be wrong. In fact, I would say that family stories are some of the biggest pitfalls the beginning genealogist faces.

Regards,

Todd

[lethearen]

Remember that even family stories can be wrong. In fact, I would say that family stories are some of the biggest pitfalls the beginning genealogist faces.

Absolutely. Especially if there were political concerns at the time of immigration. People have been known to change their names or even alleged nationalities when relocating their families, often in order to avoid some manner of persecution. I recall hearing about a family of Hebrew descent who only discovered their heritage because a rare genetic issue that only affects people of Hebrew blood. Their ancestors had erased all traces of who they really were as soon as they entered the US and fabricated a new family history.

[Bruce Scott]

It's certainly possible that it is the same name as McNarland, which is Anglicised from Mac an Fhirleighinn, meaning 'son of the lector'. (Pronounced MAC AN ER-LAY-IN)

That's very likely it. A variation of the Anglicised Mac an Fhirleighinn is MacNerlin.