First found in Argyllshire, where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Significant portions of the populations of both the United States and Canada are still made up of the ancestors of Dalriadan families. Some of those in Canada originally settled the United States, but went north as United Empire Loyalists in the American War of Independence. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the ancestors of many Scots on both sides of the border begin to recover their collective national heritage through clan societies and highland games. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants: John MacKane settled in Carolina in 1806; Alexander, John, Peter, Thomas MacKane all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860; James MacKean settled in Carolina in 1767.

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