More on Septs

[James the Gilbert]

My last name is Gilbert, Clan Buchanan says I belong to their clan.....Are they wrong?
Bailey is also in my heritage..They say there was a clan Baillie...are they wrong?
Should I sell my Buchanan Kilt because they may be wrong? Not further pursue any family history to Scotland?
You have surely put doubt in my mind to my claim of Scottish heritage.
-Advice?

P.S. I was also told that the Jewish faith is a religion and not a nationality, anyone of any nation could be jewish...Is this also false?

[California Highlander]

I'm also a Gilbert, but most of my close Scottish ancestors are from Wick, Inverness, and other north-east parts. Buchanan lands are far away! More closely connected to McIntosh and other Chattan clans, and some Gunn families in there too. Lots of nice tartans for future kilts!

Keep the Buchanan kilt, nice tartan! I have a couple of Buchanan shirts, but not a kilt in it.

[MacSpadger]

My last name is Gilbert, Clan Buchanan says I belong to their clan.....Are they wrong?
Bailey is also in my heritage..They say there was a clan Baillie...are they wrong?
Should I sell my Buchanan Kilt because they may be wrong? Not further pursue any family history to Scotland?
You have surely put doubt in my mind to my claim of Scottish heritage.
-Advice?

James, you simply have to check where your ancestors came from. Gilbert is a name of Germanic origin that became very popular in Engalnd during the Middle Ages. Check the Wiki here or the Geni.com entry here.
It's not a name I am that familiar with in Scotland. I live in the former Buchanan territories and the local pipe band wears Weathered Buchanan tartan and uses the Buchanan crest, but Gilbert is not a name I hear in these parts.
Surnames mean nothing in terms of septs anyway, check my list of surnames earlier in this thread regarding the MacDonalds of Glencoe, plus Clan Cameron also list Gilbert as a sept. Check your family tree as far back as you can if you want to be sure. Otherwise, just enjoy wearing your Buchanan tartan.

[creagdhubh]

James, you simply have to check where your ancestors came from...

***

[Chas]

Strange, this site:

http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/Main.aspx

Give a French origin. As in 'shilbear'

Regards

Chas

[creagdhubh]

Strange, this site:

http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/Main.aspx

Give a French origin. As in 'shilbear'

Regards

Chas

Interesting, Chas. I always thought the surname "Gilbert" was indeed of French origin. I have several friends with this surname and they have told me they are of French ancestry. I suppose it can all be rather subjective, though.

Cheers,

[Chas]

Interesting, Chas. I always thought the surname "Gilbert" was indeed of French origin. I have several friends with this surname and they have told me they are of French ancestry. I suppose it can all be rather subjective, though.

Cheers,

I can't find the reference, but I thought that the original Gilbert came over with William the Conqueror.

Gilbert is pronounced softer like the cheese Camembert, rather than the harder Saxon AlBert, or EgBert, or EngelBert.

That is my understanding.

Regards

Chas

[creagdhubh]

I can't find the reference, but I thought that the original Gilbert came over with William the Conqueror.

Gilbert is pronounced softer like the cheese Camembert, rather than the harder Saxon AlBert, or EgBert, or EngelBert.

That is my understanding.

Reagrds

Chas

Actually Chas, this was my understanding as well. Along with with "Gilbert" being of French origin, I have always believed it to be a surname particularly associated with the Norman conquest. Hence, "Gilbert" being a surname possibly derived from the Normandy region of France. Perhaps a bit like how the Clan Fraser began, with "de Friselle."

Cheers,

[California Highlander]

All depends on where they came from. My ancestors are Gilberts who came to the USA from Scotland via Northern Ireland (secondary sources). Pronounced in the Anglo-saxon manner "Gill-bert", not the French "Jill-bear". In my genealogy research "Gilbert" can be French, Irish, English, German, Scottish, or "something else".

Wikipedia does say the name is Norman-French & Germanic, but with no real sources listed. Generally the English/Irish/Scottish Gilberts probably got the name from the Normans. Gilberts and Gilbertsons are associated with Buchanan and Cameron in some sources, also occasionally Kennedy and Gibson as relating to Scots in Ulster. Gibson is "Gilbert's son". Another Scottish Gilbert connection: Walter Fitz Gilbert - 13c Scottish noble. Supported England against Wallace and Bruce, but eventually saw the light :-)

As with all names, they spread, get reformed, and get reused (maybe because the Norman-Scottish Gilbert sounded like the German-Jewish name Goldberg and it got changed along the way, for example).