Well-known names as Trevelyan, Trelawney, Treherne,
Trevor, Polwhele, Pentreath, Pendennis, are Celtic names - Tre is the Welsh tre or tref (home, hamlet), Irish treabh (house, family, tribe), English thorp; pol is the Welsh pwll, Irish poll (a hole, pit, pool); pen is the Welsh pen (a head, end, hill), and Old Irish cenn now ceann (head, headland), and also beinn
(a hill, a summit). Some Welsh and Irish names indicating a father or ancestor; as the
Vyvyans, Oliphants, Kennalls, Jenners, Keigwins, Scawens, and others, all most purely Celtic, both in name and blood.
Welsh family names are generally easy to recognise, but in many cases are most often mistaken for English names. Names such as as Tudor, Gwynn (Wynn)
Morgan, Meredith, Owen, Griffith, Rhys (Rees, Rice) Lloyd, Howell,
Evan, Vaughan, and Craddock.
It
first should be first noted that Surnames did not come into effect
until 1057 in Scotland. Prior to this, our lineage came from our god
descendant's totem, above.
Allmack - in London, having been started by a Highlander, whose original name was MacCall or MacAll.
Davidson - was Mac Daibhidh - "David's son"
Campbell of
Glenure (which means "Glen of Yew"), "I wish he were yew and not
alder"i.e., the noble yew tree of his territorial title rather than an
ignoble tree. The Campbells - Their Emblem was the gale, some bog myrtle.
Clan Chattan used with the fir "in commemoration of Rothemurchus from whence they came, & where there grows so many firs, but Clan Chattan derives its name from the totem wild cat - Chattans - Cat totem.
Cruden -
comes from Croih Dain (a Pictish King) or Cro-Dun (the circle on the
hill) or Croo-Dane ( a circle of stones in honour of Danes and Scots
who were honouring the slain warriors and the new peace between them
(Scots are Irish and Picts mixed). Picts - called themselves Cruithni . th in some gaelic languages was pronounced "d" so this is another possibility.
The Giuthas - "Fir"
MacDonalds of Braemar were so named because the clan's founder spent in the woods as a fugitive. MacDonalds -emblem was the heather, boasted that "now the heather was above the [bog myrtle].
Clan MacLaren's choice of the laurel , its clan's badge, refers to the name of its founder. Frasers did with the yew of Tomnahurich from where they came.
Í Néill - great yew (one of the noble types of wood) torn from soil by a storm (Ó Cuív).
Kincaid - comes from Cairbre Cinn Cait - Caibre of the Cat Head, wore some sort of Cat headdress - 'of the tribe of the cat.
MacCodrums -
came from Bardic lineage. Their totem seems to be seal as they would
not kill or eat them, nor use their oils or skins. Legend has it that
the women bearing this name have pain during seal hunting season.
The MacNivens of
Islay says that they were descended from a child found at the root of a
tree, and thus named "Mac Craoibh[e]an (the son of trees)."
MacRae - a small charm was recorded that mentions
MacLeans: B'úr a' choill as na dh'fhás thu -fresh the woodland you sprung from-Siol nam failleanan árd bu mhór stoirm.- seed of the mighty trunks of great storm.
McCarthy -
(MacCarthy, McCarty etc) the oldest clan symbol is a red Stag on a
greyish silver shield, with yellow horns and hooves. Its one leg about
to step forward. The McCarthy name comes from
their ancient ancestor called Muiredach Mac Carthach. This clan is
originally from the isle of Ireland, which in the Christian era was
divided into 5 kingdoms, Ulaidh, Midhe, Laighin, Mumhain, and
Connacht. I use the ancient spellings here. The McCarthy's are from
Munster or Mumhain, ruled by those descendant from Eoghanacht. The Eoghanacht are Spanish Celts (Spain area) from the son
Heber of the Spanish King Milesius, spoken about as one of the
invasions in their mythology. Eaghan Mor ("Slave
of Nuada") is supposedly the 46th descendant of Heber. This is the
oldest McCarthy written about and he died in 192 CE. Conall Corc,
however, who died in 379 CE, is the the first accepted historical King
who was elected by method of tanistry. But in the same area, in the 900's, there were also a family descendant from DalgCais & these two Septs fought. (A sept) is a sub-group from the same tribe.). This is where both the McCarthy's and the O'Briens come from. They feuded for years and finally in 1118, Munster was finally divided in half and became Tuadh Mumhan (Thomod), which is the dynasty of the O'Briens and Des Munham (Desmond), the dynasty of the McCarthy's. Carthach's Grandson, Tadhg 1
MacCarthy was the first King of Desmond. Their last King's reign ended
in 1596 with no male heir. (in pre-Christian times, otherwise know as Celtic pagan times, their was no male heirs, as it was not a patriarchal thing then, it was the fittest -
male or female which would take the next lead, usually by vote or contest. Craddock is the most ancient of Welsh names and one of the most
distinguished, for it is
but the English spelling of Caradoc (accent on the second syllable) a later form of Caratauc which represents Caratacus
(corruptly 'Caractacus') the name of the British warrior who fought so
valiantly against the Romans. Remember that the Celtic tribes shared thei heroes thus, the Irish had the same name Cárthach whence MacCarthaigh
or 'McCarthy'; hence Welsh 'Craddock' equals Irish 'Carthy.' At the
beginning of the Christian era the Irish form was most probably *Carathachas.
The Hays of Erroll (in Scotland) was said to be tied with the life of a mistletoe that grew on a particular oak tree.
MacCrimmons - From Skye. Seal lineage.
Mac Cuain - ("The Son of the Sea"). McEwan, MacKewan - Always dream prophesies when associated with sea.
McDonalds - Dog lineage.
McGregors - Bloodhound lineage.
MacIntosh - Cat totem.
MacKelvies - Dove lineage.
McLeod - had the horse totem.
MacMasters - Pig lineage/totem.
MacNichols - Cat totem.
MacNeishes - Cat lineage (totem).
McPhees - Seal lineage/totem.