Origin of the Name Taggart
The ancient history of the name
Taggart 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 Taggart
include McEtegart, McTaggart, Ateggart, McTeggart and Teggarty. This sept originated from Ballymactaggart in the barony of Lurg, County Fermanagh.
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.
The name in Irish is Mac an tSagairt and is derived from the Latin 'sacerdos', meaning 'priest'. The name appears frequently in the sixteenth and seventeenth century records in Counties Antrim, Derry, Fermanagh, Donegal and Armagh as well as Louth. A number of rectors and erenaghs were recorded in the Derry diocesan visitation in the year 1606, one of whom was William MacTeggart, Dean of Derry. At the same time two Armagh jurors of the name are mentioned.
The Taggart 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 Taggart descendants.