McClard name where does it belong?

[Auld Chiel]

Originally Posted by wullie m

MCNC, just because a family myth is well distributed doesn't vouch for its validity. Why on earth would there be a name change from Macleod because of a feud, common sense, sounds dodgy. Many Scottish names were transformed on crossing the Atlantic, particularly those going via Ulster. In the case of illiterate folk. a name was spelled whatever some clerk thought best.
wullie m

Well there were no immigration offices set up in America back in the 1700's, so the idea of some clerk at Ellis Island telling you how to spell your name really doesn't apply before the 19th century. What did happen was that the spelling of surnames often changed over the years. Names beginning with "Mac" were often shortened to "Mc". Phonetic interpretations of spelling also occurred. Thomson might be changed to Thompson simply because it sounds like there is a "p" in it. MacIntosh might be changed to MacKintosh because it sounds like there is a "k" in it. MacLeod becomes McCloud, Munro becomes Monroe, Chisholm becomes Chism, Colquholn becomes Calhoun, MacIlvoy becomes McKelvey....all due to people writing down surnames the way they think they would be spelled based on the way the surname was pronounced. Formal education was not exactly widespread in Colonial or frontier America.

Meanwhile, back in Scotland (or Ireland for that matter), the spelling of surnames continued to evolve there as well, and what would later come to be established as the "correct" standardized spelling during the Victorian era of compulsory propriety might well differ from the way the majority of folk bearing a certain surname in America (or Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) considered the "correct" spelling.

[wullie m]

Don' think I mentioned emmigration officers or Ellis Island. Clerk can just mean the parish clerk or a shipping clerk. Gaelic names were particularly problematic taken into an English speaking environment, as their holders were frequently doubly illiterate. Back home they probably, unless required by a tenancy or the army, never had occasion to use a surname at all, being known by a shortened version of their patronymic. wullie m

[Duthill]

Originally Posted by wullie m

Back home they probably, unless required by a tenancy or the army, never had occasion to use a surname at all, being known by a shortened version of their patronymic. wullie m

Or a nickname , to distinguish them from all the other kids in the area with the same first name , due to the naming system .

Rob , Rob (Red) Roy , Rob (Big) Mor, Black Rob , Wee Rob etc

[MCNC]

Originally Posted by Duthill

Or a nickname , to distinguish them from all the other kids in the area with the same first name , due to the naming system .

Rob , Rob (Red) Roy , Rob (Big) Mor, Black Rob , Wee Rob etc

That is a good point.

Whether a name change was due to a dodgy family story, poor pronunciation/clerk error or no need of family naming conventions it still makes for difficult documentation on our part.

[Duthill]

Originally Posted by MCNC

That is a good point.

Whether a name change was due to a dodgy family story, poor pronunciation/clerk error or no need of family naming conventions it still makes for difficult documentation on our part.

It does eh .
Have you done the DNA test ? That may narrow things down a bit