Family Name and Clan

[Don Patrick]

Now just because Gray as name would be MacGashan in Gaelic, may not mean that your Gray's come from those Gray's. Gray is also an English name, and people did move around. I don't think that should make much of a difference if you want to wear the Stuart tartan, but if you feel you need the family conection, you should check the geneolgy of your grandmother's name, rather than think a Gray is a Gray.

Frank

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

[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.

[Macman]

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

Another aspect of all this is what you mean by "possession". Does it mean that you "possess" a name if you can find it somewhere in your family tree? Or does it mean that it's your own name? Maybe the word "connection" is a better word in the context of an ancestor's name.
As Highland Logan said, this can be a can of worms. We'll all have different opinions on what we consider "proper" to wear.