Certain Gaelic names seem to lend themselves to transposition - this is one of them. The origin is from the Ayreshire MacCrae although the present spelling may well be from the Isle of Man C.1600 - as M'Grae or M'Graa. The many variant spellings include MaKra (1621) Robert McCrie (1684) who was charged with being a disorderly person in the Parish of Carsfern, McKree (1733) McRae (1799) etc. It is also possible that the modern name may derive from MacGreal - an Antrim name but formerly descended from MacCrae. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Makcrie. which was dated 1586 The Records of Ayrshire. during the reign of King James V1 of Scotland 1567-1625. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.