First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Jeffrey Wayne Robertson, out of Hamilton, Ontario, canada. My question is this: Is it not time that we recognized the old names. The names that I speak of were outlawed all those 100's of years ago, when we lost the right to rule to the British. Now that Scotland has achieved her independance, is it not time to bring them back. I call myself MACRAIBERT. the spelling is incorrect, I realize. the correct spelling is MACREIBIERT. All of that aside, I am proud to be a MAC. Of course, you might be wondering : Why were the names changed? That is easy enough to answer. The names were changed because the English could not pronounce them. For instance : MACREIBIERT = ROBERTSON. I'd be interested to hear back from anyone, including relatives.
You tell him girl. He also forgot to take in the fact that by coming across the ocean some names were over quota and familys took other names. Like even the place they were from.
I'm Welsh, which means I'm British! This is the other side of the argument which I'm always having to explain, living in France I'm always being asked if I'm "Anglais" I always have to explain "Non je suis Britannique" "Et en plus je suis Gallois" but now I'm proud to be a European
I am certainly glad to have two resident experts (Welsh Guy & Catriona) in this forum. Thanks for responding to something that I could not!
Actually I have a question which you two might know. Is it true that in Gaelic that "Mac" means son of......
I have always referred to myself as MacFive, but if this is true then it has special meaning because I am one of 5 sons, so would the translation mean "son of 5" ?
"Mac" is normally a Scotish prefix for "son of" "Mc" is traditionally the Irish prefix and "Ap" is the Welsh. In English, Swedish and Danish it is a "son" suffix in Italian "Di" prefix also in French "De" . In Russian it's a "vitch" at the end. In German it's a "Von" prefix.
It has been a long tradition in most European languages. Over the years, these suffixes and prefixes also came to denote certain standing in society (Such as "Von" and "De" in German and French) In other cultures they remained an indication of family history though not necessarily social standing.
Our Robertson correspondant by the way is more likely to have a Scandinavation (Swedish/Danish/Norweigien) history to the name, though it became common in Scotland following a series of Viking invasions. I'm sure Catriona will put me right on that one if I'm wrong.
You're more or less right, WG... There is no truth to the 'Mc' is Irish, 'Mac' is Scots myth! Both forms are correct Scottish forms of 'son of'... Although a lot of Scots-Irish who went to the USA kept this myth going....
You're more or less right, WG... There is no truth to the 'Mc' is Irish, 'Mac' is Scots myth! Both forms are correct Scottish forms of 'son of'... Although a lot of Scots-Irish who went to the USA kept this myth going....
I can tell you that this myth traveled in the late 1700's to Prince Edward Island, then to Boston. However, the buck stops here and I have been educating people about this myth.
Actually, there are many MacArthurs that share the same heritage whose names are McArthur, McArtor, Carter, etc.
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