Help with name McNurlen

[mcnurlenj]

I am trying to find information on my family background. I believe the spelling was butchered at Ellis Island in the late 1700s. At least that is as far as i can trace it. By using search sites and paying for 2 searches I have found 2 different coats of arms. I would like to find out which one is the correct one along with a tartan. I traced the family to a McNurlen from Scotland and lost the trail there. Any help would be appreciated.

[BEEDEE]

By using search sites and paying for 2 searches I have found 2 different coats of arms. I would like to find out which one is the correct one along with a tartan. I traced the family to a McNurlen from Scotland and lost the trail there. Any help would be appreciated.

First to XMTS. You will find as you dig around on this site that heraldry is an often discussed subject. One of the main things that comes from that is that Coats of Arms are held or owned by an individual (an armiger) and not by families. They can be passed down through generations but they still remain the right of an individual. The coats of arms that are being sold at Highland Games, Renaissance Fairs and on the internet are generally representative of arms held once by someone of that name, but none of us have a right to use the arms ourselves. In fact, if we were to go to Scotland and use someone's arms, I believe we could be arrested.

Tartan for Me - a useful reference to Scottish names and their clan links does not have McNurlen or MacNurlen listed.

My suggestion to you is to try and work your family tree back as far as you can to see if you can find how the name did get changed.

Good luck,

Brian

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

You might also ask some of our Gaelic speakers to try and sort out your name in Gaelic--

[Tobus]

It seems very common that names were indeed butchered in translation when people emigrated to America. Especially if the newcomers could not read or write their own names and spoke with "funny" accents. The registrars here in America would likely have written down the names as best they could, perhaps spelling them phonetically.

McNurlen sounds to me like it could be one of several names associated with Macnaughton. There's a long list of names here: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macnach.html . Perhaps it would have been a 'butchered' version of one of those?

[davidlpope]

I am trying to find information on my family background. I believe the spelling was butchered at Ellis Island in the late 1700s. At least that is as far as i can trace it. By using search sites and paying for 2 searches I have found 2 different coats of arms. I would like to find out which one is the correct one along with a tartan. I traced the family to a McNurlen from Scotland and lost the trail there. Any help would be appreciated.

I'd also encourage you to do your genealogical research, piece by piece, generation by generation, if you want to have a realistic understanding of your family's history. If your family emigrated to the US in the 1700s, there may well be documentation of your ancestor's passage from the Old World.

I found the excerpt below from Wikipedia useful:

Ellis Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, is the location of what was from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954 the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States; the facility replaced the state-run Castle Garden Immigration Depot (1855–1890) in Manhattan.

Best of luck in your pursuits!

Cordially,

David

[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.