This famous clan surname, with variant spellings MacFarlan, MacFarland, MacFarlane, MacParland, MacPharlain, and also recorded in the short form with "Mc" or occcasionally without a prefix at all as in Farlane or Parland, is of medieval Scottish origins. It is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "MacPharlain", from the prefix "Mac", meaning "son of ", and the personal name "Parlan", itself coming from the Gaelicized form of Bartholomew, "Partholon". The ultimate origin of Bartholomew is the Aramaic patronymic, "bar-Talmay", translating as "son of Talmay", a given name meaning "having many furrows". This surname was first recorded in Scotland in the latter part of the 14th Century (see below), while early recordings include Duncan Malcolm Makfarlane, who had a charter from Duncan, Earl of Levenaux in 1395, and Andrew M'Farlane, of Aracher, who was admitted as a burgess of Glasgow in 1577. The surname is also widespread in the Irish counties of Tyrone and Armagh, an example being that of Robert MacFarlane and Margery Anderson who were married at Dungannon, County Tyrone, on December 12th 1808. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Malcolm McPharlane, which was dated circa 1385, a charter witness in the "Highland Papers", during the reign of King Robert 11 of Scotland, 1371 - 1390.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024