Origin of the Name McClintock
The
McClintock family history was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name McClintock
include MacLintock and Maclintock. When 'Mac', meaning 'son' occurs in Scottish surnames it usually signifies a Gaelic origin. This name is derived from the Gaelic Mac Giolla Fhionntog sept which translates as 'devotee of Saint Fintan'.
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
This name is found in many ancient manuscripts in Scotland . Examples of such are a J. MacClintock who was author of a poem in the Dean of Lismore's Book. A James MacClintock was the last of the Breadalbane smugglers. A Duncan MacClintock was a witness recorded in Balquhidder in 1549.
Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired land by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. It was by creating, maintaining and updating these reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.
The name was introduced into Ireland by settlers from Scotland , especially during the seventeenth century.
The McClintock coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all McClintock descendants.