Which Clan?

[creagdhubh]

I think you are misunderstanding the word "convention" in this context, you are applying far too much rigid meaning to it.

Precisely.

[creagdhubh]

Thanks for the response, Kyle. I wasn't aware that it was as straightforward in your case as I was under the impression your real-world surname was Smith. The whole "which clan?" thing gets muddied even more with some of today's naming conventions.

Kenneth,

What do you mean by "real-world" surname? My mother never took my father's surname of Macpherson when they married - it was her decision not to, the reasons why, I really do not know and have never asked (that has always been an issue between my mother and father, and does not concern me), so there have been times throughout my life where my surname was hyphenated, Smith-Macpherson, just Smith, and just Macpherson - all thanks to my parents (who have been divorced for many years now), which made things somewhat confusing at times, yet I was young, naive, and didn't really care! Since I am obviously an adult now, I chose my full legal name to read Kyle Andrew Smith Macpherson - no hyphen needed in my opinion, simply my first, middle, mother's surname, and father's surname in succession.

I also have a Baptismal name of Matthew, as I am indeed a Catholic, however, I choose to legally omit that particular name, as it just becomes too lengthly! In my case, the whole "which clan" debate is not an issue since I have always adhered to what tradition tells me, and that is simply following the male line...my father's line, in regards to my Scottish ancestry, clanship, and kinship. This doesn't necessarily mean that I completely discount my mother's ancestry - not at all! Her ancestors hail mainly from Perthshire and parts of Inverness-shire. On the contrary, I have always acknowledged my mother's side just as much as my father's, and I am quite confident that most people with any inherent interest in their heritage, ancestry, and "from whence they came", do as well. However with that being said, I am a staunch follower and observer of Highland tradition, thus taking on my father's mantle. There is no "muddiness" in my full name, nor in any of my distant and not-so-distant ancestor's full names in relation to our Clan Macpherson allegiance/membership. Did I address your curiosity Kenneth?

Beannach'd libh,

[SlackerDrummer]

Kenneth,

What do you mean by "real-world" surname? My mother never took my father's surname of Macpherson when they married - it was her decision not to, the reasons why, I really do not know and have never asked (that has always been an issue between my mother and father, and does not concern me), so there have been times throughout my life where my surname was hyphenated, Smith-Macpherson, just Smith, and just Macpherson - all thanks to my parents (who have been divorced for many years now), which made things somewhat confusing at times, yet I was young, naive, and didn't really care! Since I am obviously an adult now, I chose my full legal name to read Kyle Andrew Smith Macpherson - no hyphen needed in my opinion, simply my first, middle, mother's surname, and father's surname in succession.

I also have a Baptismal name of Matthew, as I am indeed a Catholic, however, I choose to legally omit that particular name, as it just becomes too lengthly! In my case, the whole "which clan" debate is not an issue since I have always adhered to what tradition tells me, and that is simply following the male line...my father's line, in regards to my Scottish ancestry, clanship, and kinship. This doesn't necessarily mean that I completely discount my mother's ancestry - not at all! Her ancestors hail mainly from Perthshire and parts of Inverness-shire. On the contrary, I have always acknowledged my mother's side just as much as my father's, and I am quite confident that most people with any inherent interest in their heritage, ancestry, and "from whence they came", do as well. However with that being said, I am a staunch follower and observer of Highland tradition, thus taking on my father's mantle. There is no "muddiness" in my full name, nor in any of my distant and not-so-distant ancestor's full names in relation to our Clan Macpherson allegiance/membership. Did I address your curiosity Kenneth?

Beannach'd libh,

Kyle,

There is no need to get your hackles up I assure you. Your signature line reads "Kyle Andrew Smith Macpherson" but on facebook and on the Clan Macpherson Association website you are listed as simply "Kyle Andrew Smith" and "Kyle Smith" respectively. Given that and the nature of this forum, I think it's pretty obvious to see how I might have made the assumption that you had only included "Macpherson" here to show your Clan affiliation. Once you mentioned (earlier in this thread) that your father was a Macpherson it became clear that that was why you have included it in your signature line here. But clearly other places you either go by or have gone by Smith, so it was not clear that it was your legal name. I don't care one way or the other if your parents share the same name or, if they don't, whose you took. My wife didn't take mine. But wives not taking their husbands' names, children with hyphenated surnames or the names of their mothers is all fairly recent. They are some of today's naming conventions. Do you have a better way of saying that? Any time you have a child with a hyphenated surname or who has his mother's surname, seeing connections to things that are typically patrilineal in descent becomes more difficult. That was all I was saying. I wasn't trying to make a big deal about anything and there was no slight at you intended and no harm meant to anyone else.

Regards,

[kilted hillbilly]

As a Pearson with little to go on other than Grandpa said we were Scots-Irish(Many have tried to trace our lineage, only to reach the same dead end in the early to mid 1800's),I have joined the clan MacPherson and feel as legit as I can get. On my mothers side is a James Mullikin from Scotland,so the blood is there, but no clan affiliation. O well, a direct lineage would be great, but I'll take what I can get.

[ctbuchanan]

My Mother was born in Scotland and told us we were of the Clan Buchanan (through the matrilineal line of Watt). My father was a Yorkshireman with an Irish surname.
But you didn't argue with my Mother. :-)

[Andy Proffitt]

My Mother was born in Scotland and told us we were of the Clan Buchanan (through the matrilineal line of Watt). My father was a Yorkshireman with an Irish surname.
But you didn't argue with my Mother. :-)

Best reasoning I have ever heard.

[eagle43172]

One of my dad's cousins traced my Chambers family tree back to an Scottish officer in the Protestant army of William III who as a veteran of the Irish campaign was given Irish land and a minor title. His sons came to the new world and that's how the family got here. The books say Chambers is a Clan Cameron name so I wear Cameron, although my ancestors didn't really come from Cameron land. This is one reason why I don't take the geneological part of American Scottishness too seriously. (BTW my mom was a Cunningham)

[Meggers]

I have ties to two particular Scottish PEOPLE from Scotland but I am currently working to trace them back further to see if I have any clan affiliations. The first is my great-great-great-grandpa on my fathers side going down the male line (so we share a last name with him). And the second is my 5th great-grandfather through my mothers side whose name was John Poole.

The line that I am hoping to trace back to a clan is Robert Walker, the Scot through my paternal side, because our last name has a lot of stories and history. He is also closer to me considering he's only my 3rd great-grandfather whereas the other is my 5th. so far Im hitting dead ends on the Walker stuff using basic, free online tools but Ive heard we could be tied to MacGregor, MacNucator, and a few other ideas.

[WVHighlander]

Like I said before I have enjoyed participating in the Clan activities when I can. It has been especially interesting since I was raised away from my paternal side AND my paternal side had no idea of their own background.

Like many others on this forum I have been doing research on this line and have ran into a brick wall circa 1830. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can break through the wall and trace the line back to their origination...

The only downside to being a member in my Clan is that the Tartan is both expensive and hard to find!

[Rós Ó hAllmhuráin]

I belong to the House of Gordon New Zealand, not only because my mother's father was a Crombie (his people came from Auchterderran in Fife) but also because she is the President/ Commissioner for the House of Gordon New Zealand. Through her I also can claim ties with the Hays and Morrisons.

Thought my surname is an Irish one, Ó hAllmhuráin, both my father and I are also members of Clan Donald New Zealand through my fathers mother who was a Wilkie (she was born in the UK). I also have a Feileadh mhor in the County Clare Tartan.

My wife has a Welsh surname but can claim ties with Clan keith through her mother being a Dixon as well as having Harvey ties. The also supposedly are decended from one of the Dukes of Argyll.

In fact there wouldn't be to many kiwis with out a splash of Scots blood in them, we even had or still have more pipebands per head of population than Scotland... not bad for a country with only 4 million people and bigger than the UK land mase wise!