| {{ad}} |
|
|
|
| Origins Available: |
| | Scotland |
The first family to use the name McSparren lived in the ancient Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. It was used as a nickname for a person who carried a sporran, which is the purse worn with the kilt in Highland Scottish dress. The Gaelic form of the surname is Mac-an-sporain, which means son of the purse.
The surname McSparren was first found in on the Isle of Iona, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Scotland to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McSparren research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1745 is included under the topic Early McSparren History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. McSparren has been written as MacSporran, MacSparran and others.
More information is included under the topic Early McSparren Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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: