Information on Kilts

[davidlpope]

So Scott, this interests me. If Brown is a sept of MacMillan or Lamont, how does a Brown in the present, and some distance from his ancestry, know if their family is Scottish at all? Couldn't Brown be, say, English, too? Oddly, Lamont is a common name in my family, but no one has any record of why. Similarly, the other day I met a Bean who said his family was Polish! That made me think a bit! Are Lanes in English descendents of Scottish MacLeans perhaps? Do we make many mistakes hanging too much on a name? I noticed in times long past, the Highland surnames were more often first names (if that had any meaning at all)...hence the common debate about whether King MacBeth was any relative of the MacBeans. Too many questions, mostly unanswerable, but I'd be interested in what you had to say.

Simply put, yes, folks make too many assumptions concerning true, historical clan identity when they base their analysis solely on a surname such as Brown, Smith, etc. Without doing genealogical research there is no way to know for sure whether your Brown ancestors were English, Irish, Scottish, Swiss, German, etc.

That being said, though, the modern accepted practice by American clan organizations is to accept members bearing, or descended from, a recognized "clan surname", instead of requiring a documented genealogical relationship to the clan. I'm sure MacMillans or Lamonts would both be happy to claim you as a "cousin".

I help out with the Appalachian Branch of Clan MacMillan and we'd love to have you as a member!

Cordially,

David

[BoldHighlander]

....the modern accepted practice by American clan organizations is to accept members bearing, or descended from, a recognized "clan surname", instead of requiring a documented genealogical relationship to the clan....

True for most, but not for all....Clan Donald USA, for example, requires some form of genealogical research connecting to a recognized associated family for membership (they will also accept relation thru marriage or legal adoption).

[O'Callaghan]

Brown could just as well be English as Scottish, and the German surname Braun is pronounced exactly like Brown (please ignore the electric razor adverts, because they all say it wrong), so there are probably very many American Browns who are really Brauns.

That said, if your name is Brown and you wear the Brown tartan, how can anyone say you aren't entitled? Well, they might try, but it seems safer than asserting that you belong to Clan MacMillan or Clan Lamont. The only drawback is if you are desperate to join a clan association, as Brown is not actually a clan. I don't really have that option (short of starting my own society), as I am a member of a bona fide Irish clan, but AFAIK our clan society is defunct (although we have a chief).