Recorded in an amazing number of spellings including MacEachearn, MacEchern, MacEachran, McGeachan, McGeechan, McGeecan, and many others, this is an Old Scots surname. It derives from the pre 10th century Gaelic Mac Ech tigern, meaning "The son of the horse-lord", a reference to the first chief of the clan who was presumably a noted cavalry leader. The name "Mc Heachyrna" is inscribed on the shaft of a cross at Kilkerran near Campbeltown, in Kintyre, and it is interesting to note that "Epidion Akron" was the name of the Mull of Kintyre in the geography of Ptolemy, in 140 A.D.. The root of the name is "epos", horse, and the "Epidii, an ancient British tribe, who were "The horse folk". Kintyre has, throughout history, always been claimed as the home of the clan . Earlier variant spellings of the surname over the centuries include: McAchern in 1505; McCauchquharn in 1541, and Makqacharne in 1596. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Colin MacEachern. He was the chief of the clan in 1499, tin the Records of Kintyre, during the reign of King James 1V of Scotland, 1488 - 1513. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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