De-Anglicisation of Names

**slohairt** · 9th December 06, 09:27 PM

Dia Dhuit, MacWage!

WAGE I wasn't being nasty. I was just pretending to be Pour1Malt for a moment!

Seriously, though. I did some more digging and found this old Irish name: Mac Uais (pronounced MAC OO-ISH). It has been, at times, anglicised to Wage. Uas was a special crown of silver given to bards/poets who were of the level below the ollamh. Using this etymology, it could mean son of the crowned one. Perhaps this is it!

P.S. You might find it humorous that I went to high school in a small town called Clinton here in Ontario!

MAC DHUIBHSHITH Who knows? It's an Irish name as well, though usually anglicised as Mahaffy.

**Belegnole** · 9th December 06, 10:43 PM

How about Mackers ? The name came from Scotland through Spain > Chile > U.S.

pronounced Ma kers
or Mc Kers by the family

**turpin** · 10th December 06, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by slohairt

P.S. More about Campbell. Tradition holds that the semi-historical Diarmaid Ó Duibhne was the clan's founder. Ó Duibhne and Mac Duibhne would be the same name. Your ancestors would have be Maol Chaluim Mac Duibhne, Gille Easpuig Caimbeul (Archibald was used for many years as an "equivalent" to Gille Easpuig, anglicised Gillespic or Gillespie meaning "servant of the bishop") and Aoife Ni Mhic Dhuibhne.

And sure enough, the tree takes me back three more generations to Diarmid MacDuibhn, born 982 in Dumbartonshire Scotland, died about 1006 in Ireland.

**slohairt** · 10th December 06, 12:50 AM

Dia Dhuit!

MACKERS Hmmm....Two things come to mind. 1) It could be a rough anglicisation of Mac Fhiarais (pronounced MAC EE-UR-ISH) meaning son of Fiaras. Fiaras is an Irish form of the Norman name Piers meaning Peter. 2) It could be contracted from MacKerras which was originally Mac Fhearghais (pronounced MAC ER-ISH). This means son of Fergas and, yes, it is the same name as Ferguson.

**starbkjrus** · 10th December 06, 09:28 AM

Ok, I'll toss this one out as it has proved a bit vexing to me. My surname is Kellett; sometimes rendered as Kellet or in some of the oldest references I've seen as de Kellet.

The family traditions have always been that we are Scots and the family is quite proud of our historical connections to the Stewarts (although I can't find anyone who knows exactly WHAT those connections are :rolleyes: Other than marriage anyway.). I WILL say that the first son in each generation since Culloden is named Charles. Before that time it more ran to Joseph or Talmadge or James. My branch of the family seems to have arrived here in the early to mid 1700's.

The "bucket shops" on the net seem to all agree that the family originates in Lancashire, England (in the 12th century) and there are two villages east of Lancaster named Over Kellet and Nether Kellet. (According to one of the village's websites "kellet" means spring or stream in northern England.) Don't know much about the history in that area but hope to so some sleuthing in person next year.

So, the family says we are Scots and in District Tartans there is a reference to Kellet as a Scottish surname that should wear the Tyneside (Englsih) district tartan. What were we doing in England?

Sorry,

Any clue on the surname?

**gilmore** · 10th December 06, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by auld argonian

The Scottish side of my family is the Lattas and the name is definitely of Norman origin...there was a branch of the family that remained in France and on of them was among the mob that stormed the Bastille. The Norman connection makes a bit of sense since Auld William Latta was employed by Richard I as a military engineer. I've been given to understand that there's a rather big streak of Norman blood among the Scots.

Best

AA

Do you have relatives in North Carolina? My cousin married a Latta from there.

**slohairt** · 10th December 06, 09:51 AM

Dia Dhuit!

KELLETT Also Kellet, or Kellit. It's topographical in origin and apparently comes from the Old Norse keldr meaning spring, and hlid meaning hill. The name is found in Lancashire like you said, but also in Cumbria, an area of England with a rich Celtic history. The border between Scotland and England was a pretty fluid one for many centuries. Naturally people moved back and forth. So, a Lowlands Scots origin is probably not unlikely. A Gaelic translation could be Cnoc Tobair (KNOCK TAWB-ER) or a Gaelic transliteration would be de Ceiléad (IRISH) or Ceileud (SCOTTISH GAELIC) Both pronounced KyELL-AID.

Hope this was helpful and not just repeating things you already know!

**gilmore** · 10th December 06, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by MacWage

I wasn't trying to push it, but did. You just seem to know something I have wondered for several years, but have never been able to find anyone who could help.

I appologize again.

BTW, if interested, my actual name is pronounced Wa-long A-J-eh-s, JUST like the pay. Several of us are known as "Wage," as am my father (and I), so I am "Son of Wage" de-anglicized to MacWage!

Here is an interesting link to a surname profiler that shows the geographical distribution of surnames in two censuses of England, Scotland and Wales in the years 1881 and 1998. http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Surnames.aspx

I ran Wage but found nothing. There must have been at least 100 individuals with a surname in the 1998 Electoral Register for results. The profiler gave the name Wager instead. In 1881 it was most common in southeast England, near the Welsh border and in the Midlands (I think. My British geography isn't the best.)

"Latta" is shown to have been most common in 1881 a bit north of the border, around Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Of course, the only way to really know the origin of a name is through genealogical research, one generation at a time, starting with one's parents and working backward.