Recorded as MacMorland, MacMoreland and the short forms commencing 'Mc', this is a Scottish surname which is also well recorded in Northern Ireland. There seems to be some considerable conjecture as to its origins, and it is possible that the derivation is from the pre 10th century Olde Gaelic name 'Mac Murgalain' meaning 'The son of the sea warrior', or it may be from the English locational surname Moreland, which is well recorded in the English and Scottish border counties. The only dictionary which does record the name, because most appear not to, suggests that it is a name originating from the Clyde region particularly Glasgow and Greenock. This was an area that for many centuries was as (the old) Strathclyde, under strong English influence in pre medieval times, if not actually under English rule, and where Olde English, which is recognizeable in the modern Glaswegian dialect, was the spoken language. In this case it is said that the surname was recorded in the parishes of Haddington and Minnigaff in the 17th century, whilst Alexander MacMorland is given as being a wig or peruke maker, in Leith, in 1749.

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