Family Name and Clan

[davedove]

Hence my earlier question? Is possession of the family name enough or is it not?

It all depends on how you want to look at it. Most people won't care at all.

And just because you have the name doesn't mean you were part of the clan. For instance, MacDonald means "Son of Donald", and Donald was probably a pretty common name.

Now, let's assume there is a Donald who is part of clan Campbell. He has a son named Ian. That son would be known as Ian MacDonald of Clan Campbell. He has a son named Angus, who would be known as Angus MacIan of Clan Campbell.

It's not until much later that last names became hereditary.

Matt Newsome wrote a real good article about this but I can't seem to find it right now.