This rare and unusual Scottish name is believed to be from the Galloway region only of South West Scotland. The modern form of spelling is a dialectal development of the original "MacGille Eoin", now generally found as "MacLean" and translating as "the son of the servant of St. John". The first recording in the original spelling is believed to be Gilmore Maclyn (1296), although the name is also recorded as Gilmore MacGylecho, so much for medieval spellings! In the fifteenth Century the recordings change to M'Gillon or M'Gilleon, whilst in 1561 "Mcoleane", a "link" spelling is recorded. The "modern" spellings include Archibald McLoney who married Marion Saunders at Ayr on April 29th 1829, he was the brother of Hannah, as shown below. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hannah Mcloney, which was dated October 11th 1828, married Robert Ritchie at Ayr, Scotland, during the reign of King George 1V, Nicknamed "Prinny" 1820 - 1830. 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.

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