A comprehensive guide to the origins, meanings, etymologies and distribution of thousands of british surnames. Comments are welcome at the end of the page if your name is missing or you would like to add a note to your name. Would like to see some discoure on the origin of the name. As you can see the families are a combination of lowland and highland scottish surnames with a few native irish surnames. The mccracken family name was found in the usa, the uk, canada, and scotland between 1840 and 1920. Mar 30, 2015 clan surnames were used more by older sons of landed families. This list of scottish gaelic surnames shows scottish gaelic surnames beside their english language equivalent unlike english surnames but in the same way as slavic surnames, all of these have male and female forms depending on the bearer, e.
All these families self identify as being scotsirish. Kelly, murphy, docherty, boyle and reilly are among the top 100 most common surnames in scotland, with kelly the highest at position 38. Alphabetical list of scottish names associated with clans and. The earliest surnames found in scotland occur during the reign of david i, king of scots 112453. From irish o buachalla meaning descendant of buachaill, a nickname meaning cowherd, servant. The mccrackens are originally scottish and speakers of the scottish gaelic language, a cousin to irish gaelic.
Hanna many galloway surnames are derived from ireland as mcracken unguestionablya corruption of a older name. Writing adolescent fictioncharacter namesscottish and. Clan surnames were used more by older sons of landed families. Irish names and surnames 1923 scot xii scot, scott.
Macnaughton is the modern, english, spelling of macneachdain. During the reigns of kings david i, malcolm iv and william the lion, some inhabitants of. The scotsirish played a large role in the settlement of america, particularly in the southern united states. The mccrackens are originally scottish and speakers of the scottish gaelic language, a. The 8 most common irish surnames in scotland, in descending order, are. Many icelanders have irish and scottish gaelic forebears. Your family history may describe your mccracken family as scotchirish or scotsirish, a similar more recent term. Most of these families participated in the 18th century. The surname mclaughlin has variants in irish and scottish. The origin of this purported relationship between the mccrackens and macnaughtons first appears in 1922 when rev. Scottish names are used in the country of scotland as well as elsewhere in the western world as a result of the scottish diaspora.
Occasionally lawless and violent, the scots irish nevertheless had a. In 1840 there were 81 mccracken families living in pennsylvania. Jun 27, 20 the true definitive source for scottish and irish names is a book called the surnames of scotland, written by dr. Half of the surnames in our records have a score of. The most mccracken families were found in the usa in 1880. Gaelic surnames comprise surnames of irish, scottishgaelic, and manx origin. Comments are welcome at the end of the page if your name is missing or you would like to add a note to your name acheson variant of atchison adamson means son of adam. The mccracken history comes from a long tradition passed from generation to generation by the. Billy mccracken 18831979, northern ireland football player. Find out where in the world your surname originated, what it originally meant and how many other people you share it with. Siorrachd bhaile na huige, formerly a county in southwestern scotland, now part of the council area of dumfries and galloway, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early kings of britain to determine. The original naughton contained in the name refers to the gaelic god of water and sea. The irish form, lachlan, is derived from maclochlainn, which means son of lochlan and often takes english forms such as maclaughlin or macloughlin.
Alphabetical list of scottish names associated with clans. There are many spelling variations for the clan macnaughton surname. Mccracken irish, scottish anglicized form of gaelic mac reachtain, ulster variant of mac neachtain. The fact is, mccracken is the phonetic spelling, in english, of the gaelic pronounciation of the name macneachdain.
In scotland, the surname most often appears as maclachlan but takes the english form mclaughlin in other countries. Many americans with rare english or scottish sounding names who are in fact scotchirish in ancestry and are looking for info. In either case, the respective term suggests that your scottish ancestors had relocated from lowland scotland to northern ireland, emigrating to the ulster plantation probably in the 1600s. All these families self identify as being scots irish. Among scotchirish settlers in 18th century america, for instance, the surname crocket was originally french, reed was english, and mitchell was scottish. Mcnaughton, mccracken the well known antrim and down name maccracken is a corrupted form of macneachhtain. Mccracken is a hereditary surname derived from ulster and nearby galloway, scotland. This was primarily to distinguish themselves from the newer irish immigrants from the famine, who were largely roman catholic, with no scottish ancestry.
Aiken derived from the medieval given name atkin, a diminutive of adam. Last names beginning with mc in the united states last names starting with mc in the us population during the 2000 census. Find out more about your scottish surname from this list of scottish surnames from acheson to woods. Westerna waring, high sheriff of down, who was then sunk in debt and was. The most spoken celtic language and the only one with over a million speakers.
Irish words and names often have complex pronunciations to a non irish person. Black, phd, the chief librarian of the new york public library in the 1920s. The brochure also stated that there are over 4,000 surnames in use in ireland today, which are not only of celtic derivation, but also of scandinavian, italian, jewish, scottish, english, french, norman, and welsh, as well as more recently indian and vietnamese derivation, so this list obviously is not a comprehensive list of all the presentday irish surnames. The scotsirish and how to research them ancestral findings. Mccracken name origin by user april 17, 1999 at 02. Alexander mccracken, of lisburn, one of the presbyterian nonjurors, was arrested, without a warrant, by mr. There are a lot of silent letters and unusual letter combinations. In some cases families related to a historical clan via marriage, via legal contracts such a manrents military obligations to a lord, tacsmen land managers or just allies, would take the surname of the clan to which they were associated.
Mccracken is a scottish patronymic surname, from the old gaelic macneachtain, which shifted to macreachtain and retains several alternate spellings, both with mac and mc. Phd, fsts, gts, fsa scot be aghaidhlig an canan na halbanaich gaelic was the language of the scottish people. This was about 28% of all the recorded mccracken s in the usa. Many scottish surnames are the names of scottish clans that were once powerful families dominating large swaths of territory.
Find your irish surname or county a letter from ireland. Not all irish surnames are of gaelic origin, however. In these countries, you may find some difficult to pronounce irish last names. Mccrackens are originally scottish and speakers of the scottish gaelic language, a cousin to irish gaelic. Oct 16, 2009 the scots irish played a large role in the settlement of america, particularly in the southern united states. Siorrachd bhaile na huige, formerly a county in southwestern scotland, now part of the council area of dumfries and galloway, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early kings of britain to determine the rate of. The vast majority of gaelic irish surnames were created during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The higher the number, the more unevenly distributed the surname is around scotland.
Macnaughton clan mccracken clan jewelry including mccracken crest jewelry, mccracken crest signet rings, pendants, bracelets, cufflinks, in sterling silver and gold and more. Irish names are used on the island of ireland as well as elsewhere in the western world as a result of the irish diaspora. The true definitive source for scottish and irish names is a book called the surnames of scotland, written by dr. Find your irish surnamecounty below be sure to click on see more to see all the surnames mentioned under that alphabet letter. Bell has left out many ulster surnames which he has deemed unimportant due to the fact of their lesser preponderance in ulster. Investigate the percentage of ulsterscots surnames compared with others in. Their experiences in settling new lands in ireland, and then again in the american colonies, helped to develop a hardworking, fearless, and sometimes brash, spirit. Occasionally lawless and violent, the scotsirish nevertheless had a.
Thus, mccracken and macnaughton are actually the same. However, it is a common misconception that every person who bears a clans name is a lineal descendant of the chiefs of that particular clan. Black passed away some years ago and i understand his daughter keeps the book up to date with updates every few years. Anglicized form of gaelic mac reachtain, ulster variant of mac neachtain see mcnaughton, with the replacement of n by r in the cluster cn that is characteristic of ulster irish. The subject of septs is a contentious one and one which is difficult to resolve with any degree of historical accuracy. Most scotchirish names are scottish or english, and some are very occasionally native. It is estimated that fewer than 30% of all scottish surnames carry a history of clan association. Irish gaelic surnames learning irish bitesize irish blog. Jul 14, 2012 not all irish surnames are of gaelic origin, however. While today, gaelic is only spoken by a few thousands, it was the language of most of the people of the north and west of scotland until after 1900. Scottish surnames m genealogy and family history in scotland. Macnaughton crest jewelry rings, pendants, cufflinks, bracelets and more direct from the manufacturers. Burns famous scottish poet davidson great belfast engineer and inventor dunlop inventor of the rubber tyre grant 18th president of the usa tyres writer leader fighter machines look at this short list of ulsterscots surnames. Kelly, murphy, docherty, boyle, reilly, gallacher, mclaughlin, odonnell.
This list of scottish gaelic surnames shows scottish gaelic surnames beside their. Irish words and names often have complex pronunciations to a nonirish person. Then, click on a post that appeals the most to you be sure to leave a comment or question. Irish surnames came into use gradually from about the middle of the tenth to the end of the thirteenth century, and were formed from the genitive case of the names of ancestors who flourished within that period, by prefixing o also written ua or mac sometimes written mag, as. Writing adolescent fictioncharacter namesscottish and irish from wikibooks, open books for an open world. Click on that namecounty for a list of posts that mentions them. There are also endless variations of scottish surnames and the list below is neither comprehensive nor definitive but is intended solely as a guide to the possible connections a name may have to a recognised clan or family featured in detail elsewhere. Jun 24, 2015 the scots irish dna project now has 761 participating families. Thus, mccracken and macnaughton are actually the same name. It was only after the irish potato famine in the 1840s that the descendants of earlier immigrants from ireland began identifying themselves as scotchirish, or scotsirish. In fact, some of the bestknown irish surnames, such as fitzgerald, joyce, walsh, power, and burke, come to us from the normans. A value of 0 indicates that the surname was not recorded in 1841.
For the most part, the mccrackens are a sept of the macnaughton clan. Your family history may describe your mccracken family as scotch irish or scots irish, a similar more recent term. Over the centuries, ireland has attracted people from various cultures, all of which have left their mark on the landscape of irish surnames. Mccracken name meaning, family history, family crest. It is an anglicisation of mac reachtain an ulster gaelic variant of the patronymic surname mac neachtain commonly anglicised as mcnaughton. Mac surnames are generally of a much later date than o. It should be noted that the scottish gaels were actually descendants of gaelic emigrants to scotland. Since irish surnames can still be found concentrated in the area where they first appeared, one can examine the distribution of the surnames that appear in ones dna results see.
The place names themselves derive from old english anne alone, solitary or. The surname mccracken was first found in wigtown gaelic. Albanach which see was the corresponding irish surname. You may also find some stereotypical irish surnames. As a result of the high numbers of irish people all around the world, irish last names can be found all over the world. The genetic homeland is the very small area, usually within a 5. The scotsirish dna project now has 761 participating families. Derived from middle english burgh meaning fortress, fortification, castle. Maccrackan,maccracken,maccrachen,maccraken, an old galloway surname.
Patrick woulfe from dublin, published a book translating well over a thousand irish gaelic not galwegian gaelic surnames into english. Claochlu ar mac neachtain o albain an sloinne bunaidh, ach bhi siad in aontroim sa 16 cead. Learn more about the mccracken family and the heritage of where you come from. Here is an easytouse index of all the irish surnames and counties mentioned in our various letters and blog posts. It is an anglicisation of mac reachtain an ulster gaelic variant of the patronymic surname mac neachtain commonly anglicised as mcnaughton people surnamed mccracken. Most of the names we have compiled in our list of scottish dog names come from scottish gaelic.
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