McIntoch History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

The McIntoch surname comes from the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name, Mac an Toisich. McIntoch is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Many patronymic surnames were formed by adopting the given name of an ancestor of the bearer, while others came from popular religious names, and from the names of secular heroes. The surname McIntoch comes from the Gaelic name Mac an Toisich, which means "son of the chief, leader, or thane." Members of this distinguished Pictish family were originally found in Moray.

Early Origins of the McIntoch family

The surname McIntoch was first found in Moray (part of the modern region of Grampian). The McIntoch family is said to descend from Seach MacDuff, who was awarded the lands of Petty and Breachley in Inverness-shire and was appointed Constable of Inverness Castle for his support of King Malcolm IV in the suppression of a rebellion in Morayshire in 1160. A son of Seach then assumed the name "Mac-an-Toisch," and thus began the Clan MacIntosh.

Early History of the McIntoch family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McIntoch research. Another 424 words (30 lines of text) covering the years 1263, 1314, 1336, 1396, 1411, 1594, 1704, 1715, 1745, 1746, 1833, 1890 and 1957 are included under the topic Early McIntoch History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McIntoch Spelling Variations

The appearance of the printing press and the first dictionaries in the last few hundred years did much to standardize spelling. Prior to that time scribes spelled according to sound, a practice that resulted in many spelling variations. McIntoch has been spelled Kyntosh, Intosh, Intoch, Toshe, Tosh, McKyntosh, McKintosh, McKintoisch, McKintoch, McIntosh, McComtosh, McKintowse, McIntosh, MacKyntosh, MacIntoch, MacIntosh, McIntoch, Mackintowse, MacKintosh and many more.

Early Notables of the McIntoch family

More information is included under the topic Early McIntoch Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McIntoch family to Ireland

Some of the McIntoch family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McIntoch family

The expense of the crossing to the North American colonies seemed small beside the difficulties of remaining in Scotland. It was a long and hard trip, but at its end lay the reward of freedom. Some Scots remained faithful to England and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others fought in the American War of Independence. Much of this lost Scottish heritage has been recovered in the last century through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of McIntoch: Enoch Macintosh, who came to Virginia in 1668; Henry Mackintosh, who arrived in Boston in 1702; Adam Macintosh, who settled in Georgia in 1736; John Mackintosh, who came to Georgia in 1736.

The McIntoch 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: Touch not the cat bot a glove
Motto Translation: Don't touch the cat without a glove.