This unusual name is of early Scottish (Gaelic) origin, and is associated with the Galloway and Dumfriesshire regions of Scotland. It is the anglicized form of the Gaelic 'Mac Tuirc', which is the patronymic form, 'Mac' or the shortened form 'Mc', meaning 'son of', Tore, a byname from 'tore', a boar. The register of marriages in Edinburgh records one Bessie Makturck in 1621. The Calendar of the Laing Charters Records John MakTurke as a servitor of George Stewart of Robertoun in 1624. Several persons of the name McTurk or MacTurk were charged with being 'disorderly' i.e. non - conforming, in the parish of Carsphaim in 1684. Catherine McTurk married Andrew McGown on the 8th June 1860 at Old Kilpatrick, Dumbarton. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John MakTurk, which was dated 1538, Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, during the reign of James V of Scotland, 1513 - 1542. 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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