Scottish Names

Scottish graveyards contain a wealth of Scottish names

I had one of those oh-oh moments as I was researching and writing about the MacNeil family. The family line I was tracing back came from John McNeil the son of John Breac MacNeil or, at least, that's what I had found out when I originally dug into this family. As I was doing further research to write up this line, however, I came across information on Rootsweb and other databases listing the sons and daughters of John Breac MacNeil and his wife, Margaret MacDonald, and none of them listed a son John. Did I have the John MacNeil I had traced back attached to the wrong pioneer settler?

Sometimes I question the research I did way back when but then there are times when I think I really had a good idea of what I was doing. Among my old notes I found a photocopy of the MacNeil genealogy from Rankin's book with the relevant ancestors highlighted. Brilliant! Not only did it show me that I was on the right track but I could then see what the problem was. It all boiled down to the limited number of names used by the Scots.

 Excerpt of MacNeil (Breac) genealogy from Rankin's book

As you can see by the excerpt from Rankin's genealogies, there was a son John, born to John Breac MacNeil but, not only did he have the same first name as his father, but he married a woman with the same name, Margaret MacDonald. It is easy to understand why other researchers could have skipped over son John's entry thinking it was some kind of mistake. I mean, who marries a woman with the same name as their mother especially when they have the same name as their father? This may also answer why Rankin didn't detail the progeny of the second John MacNeil and Margaret MacDonald. It may be frustrating for me not to have my research confirmed but listing the children of the second John and Margaret might have created confusion for readers of Rankin's book. At least, that's my theory. I'm just glad to find out that I'm still researching the right family.

And while I was thinking of names the Scottish naming pattern came to mind. I had used that pattern on one of my lines to prove a link in the past. Had the MacNeil family also followed that pattern and would it help me in my research? I will have to check out some census data with that in mind and see if it gives me any clues.

According to Bruce Druie's 4th edition of Scottish Genealogy, the Scottish naming pattern goes:

first son named after paternal grandfather

first daughter named after maternal grandmother

second son named after maternal grandfather

second daughter named after paternal grandmother

third son after the father

third daughter after the mother

then other children after aunts and uncles

Sources:

Durie, Bruce. Scottish Genealogy, Fourth Edition. The History Press, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2017 p40

Rankin, Rev. D.J., A History of the County of Antigonish, Nova Scotia (1929). Global Heritage Press/GlobalGenealogy.com Inc., Milton, Ontario, 2003. p329