McMillin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Scotland's coastal mountains and Hebrides islands were known in ancient times as the kingdom of Dalriada. The name McMillin evolved there as a nickname for a bald person; the name may refer to a member of a religious order. The Gaelic forms of the name are Mac Mhaolain or Mac Ghille Mhaoil, both of which mean son of the bald or tonsured one.

However, the origins of the Clan have been shrouded in uncertainty, largely as a result of historians of the Clan Buchanan, and their insistence that both Clans have a common ancestry. Buchanan of Auchmar says that the MacMillans are descended from Methlan, second son of Anselan, a Buchanan Chief of the thirteenth century. His theory supports the Buchanan claim that the MacMillans are but a sept (sub-Clan) of the Buchanan rather than a Clan in their own right. This theory is supported by the contention that both Clans have an ecclesiastical origin: MacMillan being Anglicized from Maolanach, meaning a 'priest.' However, tradition may more properly ascribe the origin from a particular tribe in Moray that has descended from the ancient Pictish tribe of Kanteai, thought to have existed in the first half of the second century AD.

Early Origins of the McMillin family

The surname McMillin was first found in at Tayside, where in 1263 Cilleonan MacMolan appears on documents. [1] They arrived in Strathtay from the lands in Loch Arkaig after King Malcolm IV transplanted many Clans, including the MacMillans, from that region about 1160 AD. Later, about 1350, the Camerons, who had changed their name to Chalmers, drove them from their Strathtay territories.

In vacating the Strathtay, the Clan branched to many other areas, including Lochaber, Argyll and Galloway. The senior branch, however, were the MacMillans of Knapdale, and they held a grant from the Lord of the Isles inscribed in Latin on a rock at Knap: 'MacMillan's right to Knap shall be, as long as this rock withstands the sea.'

Malcolm Mor MacMillan had received this rock by the 14th century. His grandson Lachlan MacMillan died at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. Lachlan's son, Alan MacMillan of Knap, married the McNeill heiress and took over the Castle Sween. He erected a cross, which still stands to this day in Kilmory churchyard. The cross stands better than twelve feet high and is elaborately engraved, showing a Highland Chief hunting a deer on one side, and a claymore surmounted by certain Clan members on the other.

Early History of the McMillin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McMillin research. Another 267 words (19 lines of text) covering the years 1452, 1454, 1540, 1555, 1670, 1745, 1753, 1775 and 1790 are included under the topic Early McMillin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McMillin Spelling Variations

Spelling in the medieval era was a highly imprecise process. Translation, particularly from Gaelic to English, was little better. For these reasons, early Scottish names are rife with spelling variations. In various documents McMillin has been spelled MacMillan, MacMullan, MacMullen, McMullen, McMullin, McMullan, McMillan, MacMullin and many more.

Early Notables of the McMillin family

Notable amongst the Clan from early times was Sir Duncan Macmolane, a Pope's knight, chaplain of the collegiate church of Kilmone, 1452; John Macmulan (Makmilane, or Makmylan), bailie (baillie) of Glasgow in 1454; Sir Fingon Makmulane, who was presented in 1540 to the chaplainry of Tibbermore in the diocese of...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McMillin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McMillin Ranking

In the United States, the name McMillin is the 5,902^nd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. [2]

Migration of the McMillin family to Ireland

Some of the McMillin family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 89 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McMillin migration to the United States +

Many settled along the east coast of what would become the United States and Canada. As the American War of Independence broke out, those who remained loyal to the crown went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these hardy Dalriadan-Scottish settlers began to recover their collective history in the 20th century with the advent of the vibrant culture fostered by highland games and Clan societies in North America. Highland games, clan societies, and other organizations generated much renewed interest in Scottish heritage in the 20th century. The McMillin were among the earliest of the Scottish settlers as immigration passenger lists have shown:

McMillin Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

James McMillin, who arrived in America in 1811 [3]
William McMillin, aged 52, who landed in New York in 1812 [3]

Contemporary Notables of the name McMillin (post 1700) +

James Robert "Jim" McMillin (1937-2023), American AFL professional football defensive back for the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders
Challace Joe McMillin (1942-2020), American former football player and the first head coach of James Madison University's football program (1972-1984)
Judson "Jud" McMillin, American politician, Member of the Indiana House of Representatives
Emerson McMillin (1844-1922), American philanthropist and founder of E. McMillin and Company, a banking firm in New York in 1891, eponym of the McMillin Observatory, Ohio State University
George Johnson McMillin (1889-1983), United States Navy Rear Admiral, Naval Governor of Guam (1940-1941)
James "Jim" Burge McMillin (1914-2005), American gold medalist rower at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Macey L. “Corky” McMillin Jr. (1929-2005), well-known American off-road desert racer, philanthropist and land developer
David McMillin (b. 1984), American singer-songwriter
Benton McMillin (1845-1933), American politician, Governor of the U.S. state of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903
Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (1895-1952), American football player and coach
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The McMillin 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: Miseris succurrere disco
Motto Translation: I learn to succour the distressed.

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"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)