Origins of Our Family Names

MacNeil

Origin: Western Scotland

Clan MacNeil claim descent from Niall, a descendant of Aodh O'Neil, twentieth in descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages the famous founder of the U'Neill dynasty of High Kings of Ireland. Niall established himself on Barra in 1049 and is considered the first chief of the Clan MacNeil.

The fifth chief, Neil MacNeil, was described as a Prince at a Council of the Isles in 1252 and aided in defeating the Norse at the battle of Largs in 1263. His son, the sixth chief, Neil Og MacNeil fought with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn and was rewarded with lands in Kintyre.

Another branch of the MacNeils established themselves on the island of Gigha under Torquil MacNeil in 1427. After 1493 the two branches of MacNeils took opposite sides in the long running feud between the MacDonalds of Islay and the MacLeans of Duart, Barra MacNeils sided with the MacLeans while the Gigha MacNeils fought on the side of the Clan Donald.

The MacNeils were famous for their sailors and quite often for their lawlessness on the high seas. The fifteenth chief of Barra, Ruari MacNeil, was known as a "hereditary outlaw" and was dubbed "Ruari the turbulent". He has also been described as the last of the vikings, raiding ships of all sorts from his island fortress of Kisimul Castle. Ruari eventually had a writ issued against him by the King, was captured by his own nephews and taken in chains to Edinburgh in 1610. His son, Neil Og then became chief.

Neil Og's grandson, Roderick Dhu (the Black), led his fellow clansman at Killiecrankie fighting staunchly for the Jacobite cause. He rallied the Clan MacNeil once more to the aid of the "Old Pretender" in the Rising of 1715.

from http://www.tartans.com/clans/MacNeil/macneil.html

John M MacNeil's "MacNeil" line survives through the sons of his sons Michael H. and M. Rory, as well as through the sons of his daughter Elizabeth, who married a MacNeil (in Sydney). The two other MacNeil daughters married Campbells (in Sydney).

Grandma Jennie's [first] cousins were mostly MacNeils. The exceptions were 1-2 MacDonald families, and single families of Griffin, Agnew, and MacGillivray.

Her nieces and nephews are mostly MacNeils, except for two Campbell families.

MacDonald

Origin: Scotland

MacDonald is extremely numerous and widespread throughout Ireland. It is commonly a confusion for MacDonnell(q.v.), and shares the same origin, coming from the Gaelic personal name Domhnall, meaning 'world mighty'. However, true MacDonalds are descendants of the Scottish clan of the name. They are one of the group of Scottish clans who claim descent from Conn of the Hundred Battles, the legendary Irish king, through Colla Uais, who colonised the Hebrides. Their name comes from Donald of Islay, one of the sons of Somhairle, Lord of Argyle. By the fifteenth century they were the most powerful clan in Scotland, controlling the entire western coast of the country. Their involvement in Ireland was continuous from the thirteenth century, when they first arrived as gallowglasses, or mercenaries; such was their fame that they were employed in virtually every local war, spreading and settling throughout the country over the following centuries. Inevitably, their main connection remained with Ulster. A secondary influx into that province of settlers bearing the name occurred in the eighteenth century, when the Highland clearances caused great forced migration from Scotland.

from http://www.vretail.com/names.htm

Since Christy's only brother died in childhood, the MacDonald line of her father Hector ended with him (Hector). Christy's sisters married MacNeils (3 families), MacDonalds (1-2 families), and a Griffin (1 family).

Christy may have been adopted by the MacDonalds, but she is almost certainly a descendent of Highland Scots, given the demographics of the Iona area.

Johnston

Origin: Scotland

In form at least the surname is Scottish, deriving from the place of the name in Annandale in Dumfriesshire [near the present-day English border], which was originally 'Johnstown'. The original John was a Norman landowner in the area in the twelfth century, and instead of taking on the straightforward patronymic 'Johnson', his descendants adopted the placename as their surname, becoming Johnston(e)s. This family, the source of virtually all Scottish bearers of the name, became one of the strongest and most unruly of the Border clans, and their long feud with another clan, the Maxwells, was notorious for its ferocity. When the clans were eventually 'pacified' and scattered by James II, many Johnstons fled to Ulster where, like large numbers from the other clans - Elliots, Armstrongs, Nixons and others - they settled mainly in Co Fermanagh [SW corner of present-day Northern Ireland], where the surname is today the second most numerous in the county. As well as these Johnstons, however, many others whose name was originally Johnson adopted the Scottish name. Such adoptions occurred predominantly in Ulster, and affected those of Scottish and of native Irish origin, with the Maclans of Caithness translating their surname as Johnson, and then altering it to Johnston in many cases, and the MacShanes of the Armagh/Tyrone district, a branch of the O'Neills, doing likewise.

from http://www.vretail.com/names.htm (edited)

Clan Johnstone consists of at least two distinct groups, those of Annandale in Dumfries and Galloway, and those of Caskieben in Aberdeenshire, as well as Johnston(e)s who cannot easily be classified as either, such as those who took their name from the former name of Perth (St. Johnstoun) or other places called Johnston or Johnstone.

A word about pronunciation and spelling: Americans and Canadians tend to pronounce Johnstone as "Johnstoan" and Johnston as "Johnston", suggesting two different names. In the U.K. generally, the name is pronounced "Johnston", no matter how it is spelled; native border Scots often pronounce it "Jawnson." Presently, the Chief of the entire Name spells his name "Johnstone," and the Head of the House of Johnston of Caskieben spells his name "Johnston." Actually, either spelling may be used by Annandale or Caskieben clansmen, although the "e" is more common among those of Annandale. The writer has tended to use the "e" in this short history because it is the way the Chief of the entire Clan spells his name, and also because that is the way the writer spells his name.

The derivation of the name Johnstone is Anglo-Saxon and means "John's settlement." The first known Johnstone was Gilbert, son of John, who received use of a small parcel of land in southern Annandale from William Bruce, Lord of Annandale, between 1195 and 1214. Gilbert soon was knighted and witnessed various charters as Sir Gilbert de Joneston. Later Johnstone lairds fought the English at the Battle of Solway in 1378 and the Battle of Otterbourne in 1388.

The Johnstones of Annandale were among the most intrepid reivers of the Scottish West March of the Borders. The tartan-clad Gaelic highlander of popular image certainly is not a Johnstone clansman. Yet the Johnstones (Johnston, Johnstoun, Jhonstowne, Joniston, etc.) were very much members of a tribal society. They were also products of a brutal frontier. Centuries of border warfare and scorched-earth campaigns, in which the Scots frequently lost all their possessions to the English, left the borderers disinterested in growing crops. Guerilla warfare evolved into a guerilla existence. The borderers became semi-nomadic, raiding the English and neighboring clans to replenish the cattle and horses which were their chief form of property. The Johnstones were excellent horsemen and, dressed in a metal helmet (steel bonnet) and reinforced leather jacket (jack), with a long lance, cutting sword and set of pistols, a Johnstone clansman was well adapted to his world. A monument at the Devil's Beeftub, a vast, sinister-looking hollow near the source of the Annan River, records that the Johnstones used the place "to hide cattle stolen in predatory raids."

Border lairds lived in stark, square stone peel towers, three or four stories tall, surmounted with battlements and built on inaccessible ground. The principal stronghold of the Johnstones was Lochwood Tower, a massive, L-shaped fortress surrounded by forest and marsh. On approaching Lochwood, King James V is said to have remarked that "He who built it must have been a knave in his heart."

from http://home.eznet.net/~jeff/history.html