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Archivesi would like to find the origin and meaning of my last name
My last name is McPherson, could someone please help me find the origin and meaning. At least somewhere I could go look for it.
Thank You.
Thank You.
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Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Phearsain ‘son of the parson’ (see Parsons). This is the surname of various ecclesiastical families in Aberdeenshire and Argyll; it is also established in northern Ireland.
PARSONS:
1. English: occupational name for the servant of a parish priest or parson, or a patronymic denoting the child of a parson, from the possessive case of Middle English persone, parsoun (see Parson).
2. English: many early examples are found with prepositions (e.g. Ralph del Persones 1323); these are habitational names, with the omission of house, hence in effect occupational names for servants employed at the parson’s house.
PARSON:
English: from Middle English persone, parsoun ‘parish priest’, ‘parson’ (Old French persone, from Latin persona ‘person’, ‘character’), hence a status name for a parish priest or perhaps a nickname for a devout man. The reasons for the semantic shift from ‘person’ to ‘priest’ are not certain; the most plausible explanation is that the local priest was regarded as the representative person of the parish. The phonetic change from -er- to -ar- was a regular development in Middle English.
(Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press)
www.ancestry.com
PARSONS:
1. English: occupational name for the servant of a parish priest or parson, or a patronymic denoting the child of a parson, from the possessive case of Middle English persone, parsoun (see Parson).
2. English: many early examples are found with prepositions (e.g. Ralph del Persones 1323); these are habitational names, with the omission of house, hence in effect occupational names for servants employed at the parson’s house.
PARSON:
English: from Middle English persone, parsoun ‘parish priest’, ‘parson’ (Old French persone, from Latin persona ‘person’, ‘character’), hence a status name for a parish priest or perhaps a nickname for a devout man. The reasons for the semantic shift from ‘person’ to ‘priest’ are not certain; the most plausible explanation is that the local priest was regarded as the representative person of the parish. The phonetic change from -er- to -ar- was a regular development in Middle English.
(Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press)
www.ancestry.com
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