Posted by Maris on 8th Jan 2024
The surprising evolution of surnames in Scotland
In order to contextualize the origins of the surname Cadzow, it is useful to comprehend the evolution of Scottish surnames and their relative effectiveness in facilitating ancestor research.
Because you might want to reconsider if you believe that simply by looking for guys with the same last name, you can track your family's history back several centuries. In Scotland, the practice of designating members of a single family by their conventional last name is a comparatively new one.
The evolution of surnames in Scotland
In medieval Scotland, when the Barony of Cadzow was still in existence, a family's surname may indicate the region they were from. For instance, a man may have inherited the surname Cadzow merely by virtue of having resided in the Barony of Cadzow holdings, which are located close to present-day Hamilton.
A family's surname in the centuries that followed could be derived from a variety of sources, including:
Their trade might reveal their last name: Porter and Tailor.
their closeness to topographical features: Burnbank Wood.
Little, Reid's personal traits or coloring (based on red or ginger coloration).
Patronymics is a type of surname construction where the given name of the father serves as the basis for the surname of the family.
For instance, Thomas Davidson, the son of a father named David, would have a surname that combines the father's given name, David, with the addition of the word "son" (Davidson).
In a similar vein, John Williamson would be the son of William Thomson, the son of Thomas. Such surnames with the SON suffix still exist today, despite the fact that it is not customary for each generation to adopt a new surname.
Even now, there are traces of this system: the popular prefix Mac for surnames just means son. Today, the prefix Mac is standardized, although a century ago, it was frequently shortened to Mc or even M' in written documents.
The patronymic system was gradually superseded by the use of a fixed family name derived from an ancestor, or namefather, only in the Northern Isles throughout the 20th century. For instance, the McGregor family chose to adopt the name Gregor from a 9th-century ancestor who was King Kenneth MacAlpine's brother.
And how does this affect our studies on our ancestors? It implies that we cannot rely on tracking our genetic relationships merely on the basis of the notion that our ancestors share a family name throughout multiple generations.