Talk:Clan MacLellan

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Etymology and origins of 'MacLellan'

I had previously read that MacLellan was derived from 'Mac-ghille-fillan' meaning 'The son of the servant of St. Fillan' rather than the currently described origin from 'Mac-a-ghille-dhiolan' meaning 'The son of the bastard'. In fact, the page for the surname MacLellan cites the former meaning as well. The official webpage of the Clan MacLellan cites the St. Fillan meaning too.

Conflicting information like this is naturally non-ideal, and it's hard to know the accuracy of the cited Patronymica Britannica which gives the son-of-the-bastard meaning. This said, even the Clan MacLellan site agrees that 'others allege that [the clan] is descended from Thomas Macduallan, the natural son of Alan, Lord of Galloway' Macduallan certainly seems to resemble 'mac-a-ghille-dhiolan' much more closely, and the meaning matches well enough if he was the 'natural son'.

Either way, it's frustratingly hard to know which is accurate. 2601:195:C481:7030:995E:236C:2EAD:4BAC (talk) 17:45, 14 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]