Researching family history, question about differentiation of surname?

S

Shirley T

New member
The prefix Mac, Mc, Fitz means son of.

The prefix O means descendant of or grandson of.

You could be related to someone with a different prefix. However, you can have the exact same prefix and the same name following it and still not be descended from the same root person. When surnames were taken or assigned during the last millennium, it was for taxation purposes, not necessarily to identify a man as a member of a family.

Surnames were based on a)being the son or descendant of someone b)
their occupation c)where the lived d)some characteristic about them.

Even with patronymics(being the son or descendant of someone) that still doesn't mean you share the same root person of your name. For instance O'Connor which means descendant of Conchobhar. I had been told someone of the Rory O'Connor line that there was more than one Conchobhar that had descendants.

Someone asked me once about a guy whose last name was O'Brien if he was a descendant of Brian Boru. I simply said, "I don't know. He might be." A priest named O'Connell said "There was more than one Brian that had descendants.

Now you get back far enough and we are all related. Your direct ancestry pyramids as you go back, 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great gandparents, 16 great great grandparents, 32 great great great grandparents, 64 great great great great great grandparents. You get so far back in the last millennium and if the number of greats you put in front of grandfather if each were a different person, they outnumber the population of Europe and definitely Ireland.

So your parents are cousins no doubt it is just how many times they are cousins and if you can discover the documentation to prove it.
 
my last name as "mc" in beginning. would last name with the same suffix but different prefix still be related? (like o'connor instead of mcconnor)

thanks
 
The prefix Mac, Mc, Fitz means son of.

The prefix O means descendant of or grandson of.

You could be related to someone with a different prefix. However, you can have the exact same prefix and the same name following it and still not be descended from the same root person. When surnames were taken or assigned during the last millennium, it was for taxation purposes, not necessarily to identify a man as a member of a family.

Surnames were based on a)being the son or descendant of someone b)
their occupation c)where the lived d)some characteristic about them.

Even with patronymics(being the son or descendant of someone) that still doesn't mean you share the same root person of your name. For instance O'Connor which means descendant of Conchobhar. I had been told someone of the Rory O'Connor line that there was more than one Conchobhar that had descendants.

Someone asked me once about a guy whose last name was O'Brien if he was a descendant of Brian Boru. I simply said, "I don't know. He might be." A priest named O'Connell said "There was more than one Brian that had descendants.

Now you get back far enough and we are all related. Your direct ancestry pyramids as you go back, 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great gandparents, 16 great great grandparents, 32 great great great grandparents, 64 great great great great great grandparents. You get so far back in the last millennium and if the number of greats you put in front of grandfather if each were a different person, they outnumber the population of Europe and definitely Ireland.

So your parents are cousins no doubt it is just how many times they are cousins and if you can discover the documentation to prove it.
 
It could be. Mc, from Mac -son of- and Ó from UÃ* - grandson or descendant of. ÓBrien and McBryen are considered related variations although the former is more common. ÓConsidine and MacConsidine are the same family. So yes it could be.
 
Hmmm, I've never thought about that. But if you're talking about fairly recent ancestors, my guess would be: probably not. I have a lot of Irish ancestors -- both Mc's and O's -- and I've never seen that happen. Sometimes they might drop the prefix (O'Leary becomes just plain Leary), but I've never seen anyone pick up a different prefix (O'Leary>McLeary). But if you're talking about waaaayyy back, when surnames were first coming into use... it's possible that some Connors became O'Connor while their cousins became McConnor.
 
Hmmm, I've never thought about that. But if you're talking about fairly recent ancestors, my guess would be: probably not. I have a lot of Irish ancestors -- both Mc's and O's -- and I've never seen that happen. Sometimes they might drop the prefix (O'Leary becomes just plain Leary), but I've never seen anyone pick up a different prefix (O'Leary>McLeary). But if you're talking about waaaayyy back, when surnames were first coming into use... it's possible that some Connors became O'Connor while their cousins became McConnor.
 
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