My Scottish 3x great Grandfather
immigrated to America from Ireland just prior to the Revolution, and,
subsequently, served throughout the war.
Isham could neither read, nor write,
and due to his thick accent, it is apparent that no one could be absolutely
sure what his surname was. Somewhere along the way, perhaps when he enlisted in
the Army, it was determined that his last name was “McDaniel.” However, and for
whatever reason, his son, William, began using the surname of “McDonald,” and
it has been thus throughout the multiple generations which have followed my
namesake; (for these first and last names are common to both of us).
But in reference to my immigrant
ancestor, I definitely had “the last word,” since when I organized a
gravemarking ceremony for Isham a decade ago, I ordered and installed a VA
headstone which bore the McDonald nomenclature.
Speaking of my family surname, my wife
and I recently experienced an unsettling scenario. We have planned a trip to
Scotland and Ireland in a few months, and, as a result, we submitted the
necessary documentation and applied for the requisite passports.
Interestingly enough, when the
passports arrived in the mail, we discovered that whomever had accomplished
them had left a space between ‘Mc’ and ‘Donald;’ (though my accompanying birth
certificate does not include this space). To complicate matters, our airplane
tickets indicate a small ‘d’ in the Donald suffix. And to “put a cherry on
top,” when we applied for a PSA Pre-check to expedite our check-in at the
airport, my surname was entered as “McDonald.”
Unfortunately, we have been informed
that our passports and tickets must match exactly, by letter and space, or we “just
ain’t gettin on” that airplane. Thus, we are presented with a dilemma which
must be reconciled before we leave for Europe.
Pt. 2
Strangely enough, the foregoing
spellings of the McDonald surname are all correct.
Mc Donald, McDonald, Mc donald,
Mcdonald, Mac Donald, MacDonald, Mc Donnell, McDonnell, (or McDonald with a couple of small dashes
under the ‘c’) are all proper and allowable spellings. (And as a matter of
fact, at one time or the other, I have used three of the nine variations of
the name).
Did I mention that the “Mc” prefix and
the “Donald” suffix of my last name mean, “Son of Donald?” (Well, they do). Exactly
like, (for example) the Israeli prefix and suffix of, “Ben Hur.” (Son of Hur).
Most believers are familiar with a
verse in the last book of the New Testament which infers that every man, woman,
boy and girl who acknowledge Christ as their Savior will be assigned a different
name by which they will be known and addressed “on the other side.”
The one who
is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will
they leave it. I will write on them
the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New
Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.
(Romans 3:12)
And while I don’t necessarily wish to surrender
the name and accompanying spelling with which I have become so familiar, it
will be refreshing to avoid the inherent confusion of a surname which can
conceivably be written in such a myriad of ways.
“I will write on them the name of my
God.”
(and)
“I will write on them my new name.”
I think I will be real fine with that.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 76. Copyright pending
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