The Right Way To Spell MacCrae

My name is MacCrea. My friends call me Jock or Mac. But the bills show up at the door for J MacCrea. I wouldn't wish those bill people to know my first name but some of them do. It may be that the bill people are not people at all. They could be computers who have lawyers.

MacCrea is not the only way to spell my last name.  It's the right way but lots of the other MacCreas won't admit to it. I'm easier going than most MacCreas. I have no problem giving the other Macs their due.

I've copied what follows from "Clan MacCrea Symbols" which you can find at the right. It's a good source of information although I had to change its title. Copying and then pretending that I've written it is a new thing I'm learning from my daughter. When I had some trouble with it she said, "Dad, don't you remember how to cut and paste? We did that yesterday." I said, "no, you did the cutting and pasting. I was only pretending ." My daughter is very determined when it comes to cutting and pasting and now I can cut and paste with the best if them. I also read what I cut and paste. That seems my contribution to the process.  As long as my daughter is checking up on my cutting and pasting, I think I'll be checking up on her reading. If she reads this she might learn a thing or two.

From the College of Cut and Paste:

MacRae comes from the Ancient Gaelic word Macrath which means "Son of Prosperity" or "Divine Grace". 

(Jock says: Despite my name I haven't received the boon of prosperity. I did better with the grace. But it's nice to know that I have relatives who have money.)

Mac is the Gaelic word meaning "son" ("mic" being the feminine form for "daughter"). Mc & M' are acceptable abbreviations for "Mac". Therefore "MacRae" in its many forms literally means "son of" or "of the family of" Rae. "Rae", "Macrae", "Mcrae", and "M'Rae" are all correct examples of the name. Spelling may change from one generation to the next.

Recognized variants are:

Crae, Cree, Macara, Macarra, Maccra, Maccrath, Maccrae, Maccraith, Maccraw, Maccray, Maccrea, Maccreath, Maccree, Maccrie, Mackereth, Macrath, Maccroy, Macgrath, Macgraw, Machray, Macra, Macrae, Macraith, Macrach, Macraw, Macray, Macrie, Rae, Raith, Ray, Rea, and Reath.

(Jock says: Some of this is hoo- ha. Calling a MacCrea a Reath has to be a mistake.)