Ian as a given name

wini · Post by **wini** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:34 am

sorry Son,

Plenty of Johns no Ian's
Went to school with one so he would have been born around 1939

wini

Jockbird · Post by **Jockbird** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:01 am

Hi Davie,

Wee bit of a tangent here but my husband, through his Gx4 grandmother, is a descendant of the McKains of Ardnamurchan....although I've only got his lot back to the early 1700s in Elgin!

Apparently the name comes from Iain Sprangach. Following the death of the Norse chappie in charge, the Clan Donald chief sent his brother, Iain Sprangach to take possession of the region around Ardnamurchan.

Iain Sprangach and his descendants, the MacIains (now known as McKean or McKain), ruled the Ardnamurchan peninsula as chieftains of the Clan Donald, and MacIain history is merged with this clan until the forfeiture of Clan Donald's Lordship of the Isles in 1493.

There was a Reverend William John McKain (I think that was his names, apols to any relatives if I've got that wrong!) who went before the Clan Donald, I believe, in the early 1900s to lay claim to the Clan Chieftainship...or whatever the term is....and it was proven that he was the heir. According to research that another McKain descendant has done, somewhere in the 1700s this chap, my husband and the chap doingthe research, share a common ancestor....just can't remember who it is offhand...it's on one of my wee bits of paper somewhere....so I suppose, on this basis, somewhere around the 1400s is where we have our one & only Iain with a given name so far! All the rest were Johns, James, Alexander, William & Archibald and mixtures of that.

Tangent over....hope it was of some interest!

Best wishes
Donna
x

Post by **joette** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 12:44 pm

Davie wrote:
My Dad registered as John but known always even in school as Ian.1929!
It's even on his gravestone Ian(John).
His Dad was Jock & a Penicuik man & there has been a John in the family going back five generations so far.
That is a guid call pal.
The cunundrum I am trying to fin' aboot is wher the Ian cumfries
By all accounts it appears tae be a fairly recent spelling.

When you mention that "his dad was Jock" would he be given the name James or John?
Ah don't waannt tae confuse the post further, jist interestit'
Davie

He was John but always even when a wee laddie know as Jock.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 2:18 pm

As I and J are effectively the same letter of the alphabet, perhaps Jan should be considered.

Dave Sloan

Thrall · Post by **Thrall** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:25 pm

davesloan wrote:As I and J are effectively the same letter of the alphabet, perhaps Jan should be considered.

Dave Sloan

Seems reasonable - all "Ians" are here in Iceland pronounced "yan" and probably in Scandinavia too.

Fwiw, I have an Ian in my family born 1907-8, Stirling, but have to wait a year or two to find confirmation. I had not realised how recent its popularity was.

Guid hunting,

Thrall

Davie · Post by **Davie** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:38 pm

Apparently the name comes from Iain Sprangach. Following the death of the Norse chappie in charge, the Clan Donald chief sent his brother, Iain Sprangach to take possession of the region around Ardnamurchan

Thanks Donna,
Love it.

And thanks to everywan else that has postit' so fawr.
I brought the subject up as ah wiz in the boozers last week and oot o' the five o' us in the company, ah wiz the only wan no cawd Ian.
Davie

Post by **HeatherH** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:15 am

I have a cousin Iain who is 62.
HH

momat · Post by **momat** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:39 am

Try this site.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=Ian&gwp=13

Cheers.

Jockbird · Post by **Jockbird** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:59 am

I brought the subject up as ah wiz in the boozers last week and oot o' the five o' us in the company, ah wiz the only wan no cawd Ian.

There's nothing like being individual Davie!

All the best
Donna
x

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:03 pm

Jockbird wrote:
I brought the subject up as ah wiz in the boozers last week and oot o' the five o' us in the company, ah wiz the only wan no cawd Ian.
There's nothing like being individual Davie!

All the best
Donna
x

Aye, but 'at wiz me afore Davie arrived on the scene

Seriously, I was never a "Davie", - only ever a "David", - until PCs/email arrived and I started to use a QWERTY keyboard, and one day hit the "e" instead of the "d", - unnerstaun?, - and concluded that I'd adopt "Davie" as my email/www persona/moniker .

And then Davie arrived on TS, wi' a' his Glesca patter 'n'at

, so that I decided to revert to "David", not without some thought about whether I'd go for the Ayrshire "Dauvit" instead.

For those of you unfamiliar with Glesca patter, I don't know of a way to explain it, other than to take you into certain pubs in the city of the non-growing-tree, non-swimming fish, non-ringing bell, and grounded bird, and sit you down next to some right Glesca characters, and just get you to listen carefully, - talk about "wind up"

, and only ever with completely straight faces, - go study the life and works of Chic Murray

, as well as Billy Connelly (just try your best to ignore the superfluity of wee swearies, so that you appreciate how brilliant an observer he is of his fellow human beings, not least Glaswegians

)

David, previously known as Davie; will answer to Dauvit

, and even "jaj" or "ibi" in other places, - but that's a long, complicated, and quite sad story in terms of the numpties involved

, who led to the need for such aliases.