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Topic: Name Change - MACMATH to MATHIESON (Read 297 times)
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paulcrewe
RootsChat Extra
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Posts: 47
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Would appreciate advice anyone can offer on this one please. I have already posted this on the Argyll list but no response, so thought it may be more appropriate posting on the general Scottish Board - maybe it is something that regularly happened, and doesn't just apply to this surname.
My ggg grandfather was born Angus MacMath in Campbeltown in 1774. He married in Campbeltown as Angus MacMath in 1806. His children born between 1807 and 1828 in Campbeltown, including my gg grandfather Hugh, were baptised as MacMath or McMath. His last three children born between 1830 and 1837 in both Campbeltown and Old Monkland, Lanarkshire were then all baptised as Mathieson. In all censuses up to his death, Angus and his wife and children were recorded as Mathieson.
I understand that Mathieson and MacMath basically mean the same in Scotland, but I am at a loss to explain why the family's name changed from MacMath to Mathieson around 1829-1830.
Maybe something to do with English "influences"?
Can anyone please shed any light on this?
Thank you, Paul in North Queensland, Australia
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WHITEFORD - Campbeltown, Argyll & Co Antrim, Ireland
MATHIESON - Campbeltown, Argyll
MANN - Argyll
POND - Norfolk
WOON & GEACH - Cornwall
TOTTLE - Somerset & Devon
RICH - Somerset
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prophetess
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 381
Thanks To Polldoll For this one
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Hi Pual, I know from my research I have found way back paticulaly in Orkney, you have some called Peter he has a son calls him John that child would be known as John Peterson then John has a son and call him William he would then be known as William Johnson, so the son at the end baisclly means son of, not sure if that is the case with yours, but this might help,
Scotlands people Help page:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?560
I did Google (MacMath Surname) and there were a few pages came up worth a look
not only did MacMath come up But Mathieson did too
Good Luck
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ORKNEY
FLETT, CLOUSTON, WHISHART, SCOTT, BRUCE,
ABERDEEN AREA:THOMSON, ROSIE, CHAFFEY, ALLAN,
GLASGOW;STEWART, SPENCE, DOUGLAS, BLACK , KEAYS(KEYS), MITCHELL, JOHNSTON, FLETT, ALLAN, CALLAGHAN, JENKS,FINLAY,SMELLIE,TYSON
MORAYSHIRE: ALLAN, INNES, MCPHAIL, MATHEWS, STEWART, MCKENZIE, MCLEAN, PLOWMAN, MASSON,
IRELAND:DOUGLAS,BLACK,McAULAY,KEAYS,TWEED,MITCHELL,
ENGLAND: JENKS, WALKER,BALDWIN, HURST,PHILLIPS, CHAFFEY, ROBERTSON, ALLAN;JOHNSON, AMEY,Corston,Race
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ScottishAncestry
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 140
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Hi,
I think it would be to make the name sound less Irish. The other possibility is that as many could not spell their own name when said it with an Irish accent the registrar didn’t know what to write so just wrote a surname he was familiar with and sounded roughly right.
Emma
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MonicaLesl
RootsChat Marquessate
 Online
Posts: 5680
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Hi Paul
I can't answer your question specifically on your names. I can only comment on a similar situation with my names, as you I also haven't determined the "why".
One of my main lines from Argyll were originally MacIsaac. For some reason with the 1850s generation, the name became MacDonald and all the children including extended family lines suddenly all changed to MacDonald also. The death registrations post 1855 for the older generation who had been christened MacIsaac (b. 1770-1800s) were actually registered as 'MacIsaac or MacDonald'. Census entries for 1841 and 1851 also had a combination of these names, so the name change probably started earlier than I have been able to find.
What the reasons were for the name change I have always been curious to understand as well.
Regards.
Monica
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MacIsaac, MacDonald, MacPherson, MacVarish, MacMaster: Moidart - Inverness-shire. Gillies: pre-1850 Knoydart, Inverness-shire /post 1850s Fort William area - Argyll. Tully, Tulley, Moran, Murphy: Lanarkshire. Durnan, Durnin, Kelly, Tully, McPhillips: Co Monaghan. McIntyre, McMahon, Tully: Co Cavan (?) Ireland. Moran: Co Mayo (?) Ireland. ..........and lots of Spanish name interests........ Census information Crown Copyright, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |
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prophetess
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 381
Thanks To Polldoll For this one
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Just had a look in my Oxford Names companion no luck in that 
http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Mathieson.html
This may be of intrest but still dont have an answer for sure.
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ORKNEY
FLETT, CLOUSTON, WHISHART, SCOTT, BRUCE,
ABERDEEN AREA:THOMSON, ROSIE, CHAFFEY, ALLAN,
GLASGOW;STEWART, SPENCE, DOUGLAS, BLACK , KEAYS(KEYS), MITCHELL, JOHNSTON, FLETT, ALLAN, CALLAGHAN, JENKS,FINLAY,SMELLIE,TYSON
MORAYSHIRE: ALLAN, INNES, MCPHAIL, MATHEWS, STEWART, MCKENZIE, MCLEAN, PLOWMAN, MASSON,
IRELAND:DOUGLAS,BLACK,McAULAY,KEAYS,TWEED,MITCHELL,
ENGLAND: JENKS, WALKER,BALDWIN, HURST,PHILLIPS, CHAFFEY, ROBERTSON, ALLAN;JOHNSON, AMEY,Corston,Race
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paulcrewe
RootsChat Extra
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Posts: 47
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Thank you to everyone for your responses.
I had a look at the site at angelfire you recommended Prophetess, and it had an interesting bit -
"Matheson/Mathieson is a lowland version of Matthews. MacMatha/MacMath in Gaelic."
So maybe it was part of the English process of "anglicising" our Scottish ancestors by getting them to change from the Gaelic MacMath to the more anglicised Mathieson? It doesn't explain the name change from MacIsaac to MacDonald though Monica.
I found the article on Scotlandspeople about surname variants to be very interesting, in particular -
"Shortening or dropping the prefix "Mc" or "Mac", or anglicising a gaelic surname, or indeed changing the surname altogether for a similar sounding English one, which would be easier to pronounce and would conceal one’s origins, were quite common occurrences."
wrt to your comment ScottishAncestry, do you know whether it was an issue having an Irish sounding surname in Scotland?
I certainly think that I am much closer to solving the mystery thanks to everyone's suggestions.
Thank you again everyone ... Paul
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WHITEFORD - Campbeltown, Argyll & Co Antrim, Ireland
MATHIESON - Campbeltown, Argyll
MANN - Argyll
POND - Norfolk
WOON & GEACH - Cornwall
TOTTLE - Somerset & Devon
RICH - Somerset
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aghadowey
RootsChat Moderator
RootsChat Marquessate
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Posts: 8567
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Just to confuse things a bit further McMath is often written as McMaa.
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prophetess
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 381
Thanks To Polldoll For this one
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Hi Paul,
So Glad the sites have helped shed a little light on the suject,
good luck
Sybil
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ORKNEY
FLETT, CLOUSTON, WHISHART, SCOTT, BRUCE,
ABERDEEN AREA:THOMSON, ROSIE, CHAFFEY, ALLAN,
GLASGOW;STEWART, SPENCE, DOUGLAS, BLACK , KEAYS(KEYS), MITCHELL, JOHNSTON, FLETT, ALLAN, CALLAGHAN, JENKS,FINLAY,SMELLIE,TYSON
MORAYSHIRE: ALLAN, INNES, MCPHAIL, MATHEWS, STEWART, MCKENZIE, MCLEAN, PLOWMAN, MASSON,
IRELAND:DOUGLAS,BLACK,McAULAY,KEAYS,TWEED,MITCHELL,
ENGLAND: JENKS, WALKER,BALDWIN, HURST,PHILLIPS, CHAFFEY, ROBERTSON, ALLAN;JOHNSON, AMEY,Corston,Race
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