help with 2 surnames

[Kilted Rogue]

I am looking in to my wifes background( no not that kind of background check its too late anyway) and she has 2 surnames that i am having trouble finding tartan info on. Now i know that there may not be any tartan info to be had, but hey you guys are a smart lot so here goes

McMahan
And
Justis

if yall have and skeletons that match that discription or can shed a bit of light that would be great.


PS I gave both names a run through the Tartan Ferret without any luck.

Thanks

[Downix]

McMahan could be a varient of McMahon, which is an Irish surname. just me thinking out loud.

[gilmore]

Scotweb gives Matheson when you search it for MacMahon http://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan?filt...x=40&send.y=15 For MacMann if shows Colqhuon and Gunn. I would discount the latter, since they claim everybody.

Scottish Tartan Authority gives Matheson and Cian of Ely, as well as Ulster. For MacMann it suggests Galloway district tartans.

Surname Profiler shows no MacMahan or MacMann, but MacMahon is scattered about the UK, thought it's said to be an Irish name. In Scotland it's around Aberbeen, Dundee and Motherwell. http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk...y=GB&type=name Matheson, however, is a bit to the north in Inverness, the Outer Hebredes and Caithness.

For Justice Scotweb shows Justus http://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan?filt....x=42&send.y=9

Scottish Tartans shows 7 for Justus http://www.tartans.scotland.net/atoz...1&letter=J.htm

STA's Tartan ferret shows 6 for Justus: http://www.tartansauthority.com/web/...atus=firstload

Surname Profiler shows no Justis or Justus, but Justice is shown in several locations in England and Scotland. In the latter it's in Perthshire, around Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Paisley and Motherwell. http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk...y=GB&type=name

However, I would regard none of the above as definitive, only provisional if that. In fact, that info may very well be misleading. The only way to determine which, if any, clans your wife's ancestors may have been associated with is the slow and certain work of tracing her ancestors backward in time, one generation at a time, solidly documenting each one before proceeding further, with one possible exception, and that is Y chromosome DNA testing. That would involve testing her male relatives with those surnames, and may answer your questions, or it may not, or it may give a clue that could provide directions in which to do further research. See the FAQ at www.familytreedna.com

[BEEDEE]

Names tend to change some over the ages. My Dodds is also Dods, Dobbs, possibly Dodson etc.

Try MacMahon and Justus -both have Scots origins.

Brian

[fudgeman]

I am a McMahon. It's Irish. However it is my understanding it is a sept of Matheson.

[Andy HPADC]

http://houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=McMahan
Irish

http://houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=Justis
Scottish

I can highly recommend the "Irish American Tartan" and the "Scottish American Tartan".

http://www.scottishkilts.net

[1MUNK3]

Hello,
Looking through my "Tartan For Me !" book by Philip D. Smith , it came up with the following:
Justis /Justice/Justus, Tartan= Justus
McMahan, heres were it gets a bit trickier, reason, many would write down the name has it would sound from the person saying it. So if one had a heavy accent, the person writing it down would possibly come up with a varied spelling, though not always the case, but did it happen, quite frequently, and the name giver may not be able to read and write so would have no idea, at times, if the name written was in fact correctly spelled. So in this case , as others have suggested, you need to delve much deeper to find actual places they lived because depending on that, and many other things, your affiliations could vary. That is also why DNA testing was also suggested. So with that I will give similiar surnames to what you gave with what this book suggests.
MacMahan, Tartan= Matheson, MacMahon, Tartan= Cian, MacMahoon, Tartan= Ulster, MacMachon, Tartan MacMichael, MacMacken, Tartan= Ulster, MacMahen, Tartan= Cian .
Again any one of these could be right, or none. Some of these spellings seem like they are completely off, but try saying them with say a heavy Scottish or Irish accent, then they become quite similiar when written has it sounds. Although at times it seems you are at a road block persevere and you will prevail. Good Luck !

[slohairt]

IRISH
M(a)cMaho(o)n, M(a)cMa(c)han, M(a)cMahowna, M(a)cMaghowney, M(a)cKaghone, M(a)cMaghon(e), M(a)cMaghen, M(a)cMachon, M(a)cMann, Mahony* and Mahon*: from Mac Mathghamhna (older spelling) or Mac Mathúna (newer spelling). 'son of Mathghamhnan', a person name meaning 'bear-like'.

SCOTTISH
M(a)cMahon, M(a)cMann, Math(i)eson: from Mac Mathain. 'son of Mathan, a personal name meaning 'good-natured' or 'jovial'.

As you can see it is matter of two surnames of separate origin saddled with the same Anglicisations.

* These latter two are usually from Ó Mathghamhna or Ó Mathúna.

[Kilted Rogue]

Thanks for the research, i know now where they come from, now i just have to prove it.
now i just need a ships log, and home county in Erie and will be set to go with 2 branches of family.

just 4 more to go

[gilmore]

Thanks for the research, i know now where they come from, now i just have to prove it.
now i just need a ships log, and home county in Erie and will be set to go with 2 branches of family.

just 4 more to go

I don't know that I would say that I KNOW where they come from, but that I have a very good clue. In genealogical research it's really best to work from the present backward, establishing as solidly as possible one generation before preceding backward in time to the preceding one. Otherwise, if one makes a mistake based on an erronious assumption, years of genealogical work can prove to be worthless to one---or to a relative who has relied on one's work.

You could do as some one in my family did and buy thousands of dollars worth of clan paraphenalia only to discover that it was all based on a mistaken assumption.

I have a cousin who says that he never accepts anything until he can hold in his hands the original document that attests to it.