Origin of the Surname
There is so much to say about surnames. Surnames did not become common place until after the 13th century in Europe. Nobility often had them prior to this date, but peasant folk did not, instead they were referred to as "John the Butcher" or "John the son of William" or maybe as "John the Black" (or some other characteristic). This way of referring to individuals gave rise to the patterns of surname adoption. Name etymologists give 5 classifications to European surname origins: a given name (e.g. Fitzpatrick "son of Patrick"), occupational name, location name, nickname, and ornamental name. McDonald falls into the first category, as it means "son of Donald." But McDonald is an Anglicized version of the Gaelic Mac Dhòmhnaill with Dhòmnaill being a patronymic version of the given name Dòmhnall, which is itself composed of the elements domno– meaning "world" and –val meaning "might" or "rule." So the Gaelic surname would translate as "Son of the World Ruler."
The progenitor of this name is Dòmhnall Mac Raghnaill (died c. 1250) whose titles were "King of the Isles" and "Lord of Argyll and Kintyre" (referring to Scotland). As a result of the pattern of name giving, all Dòmhnall's sons would be: [given name] Mac Dhòmhnaill. [i.e. a male's full name is: given name + Mac + father's name, so that the surname changes each generation. This can also be done matronymicly or using O' meaning "grandchild of." Surnames were not frozen in their forms until the 13th and 14th centuries, and then it was done slowly across Europe, rather than all at once. Meaning all descendants would go by McDonald even if their father's name was John or William, etc.] Dòmhnall Mac Raghnaill gave rise to the Clan Donald, of which there are seven branches today, two being extinct.
In Gaelic, the pronunciation is something like "Mak Oonil" (try saying that in a thick Sean Connery-like accent, and you'll understand how MacDonald can come out of that). The first recorded spelling of the name comes from a witness who signed a charter in Lesmore, Scotland in 1251. He wrote his name as "Therthelnar MakDonenalde." Over the centuries and as a result of vowel and consonant shifts, MacDonald came to have quite a wide variety of spellings: MacDonald, McDonald, M'Donald (Mc and M' are merely a shorthand way of writing Mac and DO NOT indicate Irish vs. Scottish heritage), McDonnell, and prevalent in America as McDaniel (imagine being a Dutch or German speaker, unfamiliar with Gaelic pronunciations, who is now trying to spell someone's name who speaks with a thick Irish or Scottish accent in order to record it on a legal document). Note also that the capitalization makes no difference in meaning, Mcdonald and McDonald are considered to be equivalent. Variations encountered during research include: McDonald, MacDonald, McDaniel, McDonnel, Mak Tannel, Mktendal, Mak Tendal, Mktondel, Mak Tandel and Meckdennel.
Although there is much to say about Clan Donald and the wars and battles they fought and when different branches divided or married into other clans is quite interesting, but far too long to include here. What is of importance though, is that in the mid-15th century Clan Donald controlled not only the Highlands of Scotland, but also the Western Islands and parts of northeast Ireland (what is now Northern Ireland). In both areas, at this time, Protestantism was the dominant religion, having pushed Catholicism to the margins in the early 18th century.
Our progenitor, Collin McDonald arrived in the Americas in the mid-18th century sometime before 1763. According to his marriage license filed in New York, he was born around 1740 in Scotland, probably arriving in America no earlier than 1753. Collin likely headed for the Scottish-owned patroonship in New York, called Livingston Manor and controlled by Robert Livingston, son of Robert Livingston the original patent holder (see the 1777 map from Claude J. Sauthier and Matthäus A. Lotter, A Map of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey to the right). The towns of Livingston, Germantown (the Kamp), Clermont, Taghkanic, Gallatin, Copake, and Ancram, all in present day Columbia County, are all located within the original Livingston Manor boundaries. Collin and his Scottish brethren made up only 5-7% of the total population of the British Colonies. Although Germans and Dutch made up a similar percentage of the population in the 18th century, the area Collin chose to live in in New York had a much higher Dutch-German population as New York was originally a Dutch colony called New Netherlands. Another large area for Scottish settlement in New York was Washington County, but Collin does not appear to reside here at any point.
