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

Dalriadan families proliferated in North America. Their descendants still populate many communities in the eastern parts of both the United States and Canada. Some settled in Canada as United Empire Loyalists, in the wake of the American War of Independence. Families on both sides of the border have recovered much of their heritage in the 20th century through clan societies and highland games. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Kallay or a variant listed above: Andrew and Catherine MacCall settled in Boston in 1849; Andrew, Denis, Hugh, James, John, Patrick, Robert and William MacCall all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.

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