Contents [hide]

McLane History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

McLane History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

The west coast of Scotland and the rocky Hebrides islands are the ancient home of the McLane family. The root of their name is a devotion to St. John. The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic name meaning "son of the servant of Saint John." The Clan is descended from Eachan Reaganach, (brother of Lachlan the progenitor of the Macleans of Duart). These two brothers were both descended from Gilleathain na Tuaidh, known as 'Gillian of the Battleaxe', a famed warrior of the 5th century. Eachan, or Hector was given the lands of Lochbuie from John, the first Lord of the Isles, some time in the 14th century.

Early Origins of the McLane family

The surname McLane was first found in the Western Isles where the Clan held extensive lands on almost every island in the Western Hebrides.

Early History of the McLane family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McLane research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1310, 1320, 1370, 1411, 1500, 1560, 1582, 1604, 1620, 1630, 1645, 1649, 1650, 1651, 1658, 1666, 1670, 1674, 1687, 1716, 1745 and 1890 are included under the topic Early McLane History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McLane Spelling Variations

Spelling and translation were not standardized practices until the last few centuries. Spelling variations are extremely common among early Scottish names. McLane has been spelled MacLean, MacLaine, MacLane, MacLeane, MacClean, MacClain, MacClaine, MacGhille Eoin (Gaelic) and many more.

Early Notables of the McLane family

Notable amongst the Clan from early times was Hector MacLean, Lord of Dowart (c.1560-c.1630), Scottish Lord of the Clan MacLean; Francis Cleyn (Clein, Franz Klein) (c. 1582-1658), a painter and tapestry designer; Sir John Maclean, 1st Baronet, (1604-1666); Sir Hector Maclean, 2nd Baronet of Morvern (c.1620-1651), the 18th Clan Chief of Clan Maclean from 1649 to 1651...
Another 56 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McLane Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McLane Ranking

In the United States, the name McLane is the 4,774^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1

Migration of the McLane family to Ireland

Some of the McLane family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 67 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McLane migration to the United States +

Numerous Scottish settlers settled along the east coast of the colonies that would become the United States and Canada. Others traveled to the open country of the west. At the time of the American War of Independence, some remained in the United States, while those who remained loyal to the crown went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The highland games and Clan societies that sprang up across North America in the 20th century have helped many Scots to recover parts of their lost traditions. Research into passenger and immigration lists has revealed some of the very first McLanes to arrive in North America:

McLane Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Allen McLane, who landed in Maryland in 1716 2
Peter McLane, who landed in Virginia in 1716 2
Henry McLane, who landed in America in 1764 2
John McLane, who landed in New York, NY in 1782 2

McLane Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Laughlin McLane, who arrived in America in 1811 2
Patrick McLane, aged 25, who arrived in New York in 1812 2
William McLane, who arrived in Ohio in 1815 2
Edward Mclane, aged 40, who arrived in America in 1822 2
Margaret McLane, aged 50, who landed in Barnstable, Massachusetts in 1822 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

McLane migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

McLane Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Ms. Mary McLane U.E. who arrived at Port Roseway, [Shelbourne], Nova Scotia on December 13, 1783 was passenger number 576 aboard the ship "HMS Clinton", picked up on November 14, 1783 at East River, New York, USA 3

McLane migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

McLane Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Jane McLane who was convicted in Liverpool, Merseyside, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Emma Eugenia" on 25th October 1850, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4

Contemporary Notables of the name McLane (post 1700) +

James Price "Jimmy" McLane Jr. (1930-2020), American competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and a world record-holder
Edward Cameron "Ed" McLane (1881-1975), American Major League Baseball player who played one game for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1907
John McLane (1852-1911), American furniture maker and politician from Milford, New Hampshire, 50th Governor of New Hampshire (1905-1907)
Derek McLane (b. 1958), American two-time Tony award winning set designer for theatre, opera, and musical theatre; he has designed more than 300 productions at theatres throughout the United States and around the world
Allen McLane (1746-1829), American officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution
Ralph McLane (1907-1951), American clarinetist, born in Lynn, Massachusetts, principal clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1943 until his death in 1951
Lovick Pierce "Eddie" McLane (1899-1980), American football, basketball, and baseball coach
David McLane (1767-1797), Scottish-born, American merchant from Providence, Rhode Island who was hanged at Quebec City as a French spy by the British authorities
Myrtle Jean McLane (1878-1964), American portraitist
Patrick McLane (1875-1946), American Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives
... (Another 4 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The McLane Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Virtue mine honour
Motto Translation: Virtue is my honour.

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th April 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emma-eugenia