History of the McNabb Name

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

The name McNabb comes from the ancient Scottish kingdom of Dalriada, where it was used to indicate someone who worked as a son of an abbot. The Gaelic form of the name is mac an aba.   Patronymic names in Scotland usually carry the prefixes "Mac" and "O". They indicate the name's derivation from the father or grandfather of the original bearer. Hereditary surnames started in the 11th century when the feudal system took root requiring people to register property. Later, people took names from other sources, such as a word from their profession. McNabb is one of these occupational surnames. Sometimes these occupational names also used the Mac and Mc prefixes.  Medieval spelling was at best an intuitive process, and translation between Gaelic and English was more effective. These factors caused an enormous number of spelling variations in Dalriadan names. In fact, it was not uncommon to see a father and son who spelled their name differently. Over the years, McNabb has been spelled; Macnabb, McKnab, MacAnabb, McNabb, Macnab, Abotson, Anabb, McNab, Epotson, Eppotson, Eppottson, Abbottson and many more.

           As the Dark Ages engulfed Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, literacy slipped away from even the most privileged classes. Words remained sacred only in the church, where monks carefully guarded such documents as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Inquisitio, the Ragman Rolls, the Domesday Book, clan genealogies, baptismals, parish records, cartularies, and tax records. These and many other documents were examined in the search for the origins of the McNabb family. They were first found in the Breadalbane region of Perth county. The early chiefs of the clan were likely abbots of Glendochart, the homeland of the clan and the site of St. Fillian's monastery. The McNabb family are a branch of the Siol Alpin, the descendants of Kenneth Mac Alpin, the celebrated Dalriadan founder of Scotland who died in the 9th century. The land-holdings of the clan were much reduced as a result of their allegiance with the MacDougalls in opposition of Robert the Bruce. The family fought the forces of Cromwell under the command of Montrose, and their chief was slain at the Battle of Worcester. Although the chief sided with the government, the McNabb clan itself supported Bonnie Prince Charlie in the last Jocobitge rebellion of 1745.

Some of the family moved to Ireland in the Plantation of Ulster. In 1890, a census of Scottish families in Ireland was taken. At that time, it was estimated that there were over 448 people bearing the surname McNabb. About 69% were found in the province of Ulster.  The Dalriadan Scots descended from Conaire II, the 111th Monarch of Ireland. His son Carby Riada commanded several expeditions into Scotland taking settlers with him to the west coast and Hebrides islands. He was the first king of the Dalriadans, whose name means, Riada's portion or Riada's tribe.  For centuries, the Dalriadans competed with the Picts, Boernicians, and Strathclydes for supremacy. In 844, a half-pict and half-Dalriadan named Kenneth MacAlpin united the thrones of the two tribes. As his dominion included the regions that later became the counties of Argyll, Perth, Fife, Stirling, and Dunbarton, he is generally considered the first King of Scotland.

 
         In 1603, the crowns of England and Scotland were united and many of the clans were banished from the kingdom. This persecution, combined with the religious and political upheaval of the Jacobite uprising and the "Glorious Revolution" caused many Dalriadan Scots to leave their beloved homeland in search of greater opportunity in Ireland, Australia, and the North American colonies. The voyage was terribly difficult and many people indentured themselves for several years to pay the huge fees charged. Passengers arrived sick and poor, if at all, but they were welcomed with ample land, opportunity and freedom.

          Many of the ancestors of Dalriadan families who arrived in North America still live in communities along the east coast of Canada and the United States. In the American War of Independence many of the original settlers traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the ancestors of many Scots began revovering their collective national heritage through clan societies, highland games, and other patriotic events. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name McNabb or a variant listed above: Alexander, Thomas and John MacNabb who landed in Jamaica in 1716; Daniel, John, Patrick and Samuel McNabb arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.

          The 1984 edition of the Report of Distribution of Surnames in the Social Security list the surname McNabb as the 3,344th most popular surname in the United States.