Sharing A Rare Name

My surname, McKeand, is unusual. It is the “d” at the end that makes it rare. I have often wondered how the “d” got there. Perhaps it is the dour nature of Scottish Calvinism, but Scottish fathers and sons often have very contentious relationships with each other. It could very well be that a son added the “d” to spite his father. The son could have dropped the Mac, which means “son of,” but doing so would still leave him with his father’s name. Adding the d solves that problem. I can almost hear him saying: “Take that, you belligerent old fart!” The problem with this explanation is that it means the son would be denying his heritage and probably his clan. While that would account for the fact that I have never found McKeand listed among the surnames affiliated with any clan, I do not think a son would change his surname if it meant giving up any wealth. Maybe I should come up with another explanation.

It could be that someone who was recording the name added the d. So who records names? Tax collectors! Genealogists would like that explanation, but why would the tax collector add the d to the name of only a few McKeans? It could be that he had a reason for singling out a particular family of McKeans. Maybe he had a grudge against that family or he thought they were trying to cheat on their taxes. I like that explanation because it allows me to blame the English. After all, they were the ones who levied the most onerous taxes, and nobody likes being taxed. The English, of course, would have a different explanation. They would probably say the McKeands added the d. “They did so in an effort to make us think they were not part owners of the wealthier portions of the estate, thereby lowering the share of the taxes they should pay. Just like a Scotsman, don’t you know?”

Although the recorder explanation seems more plausible, we cannot rule out the spite hypothesis. If the d was added after the Highland Clearances, the spite explanation becomes more plausible. I say this because the highlanders were driven off the land, and this eliminates the inheritance factor. This would add a “what the hell!” to the son’s “in your face!” attitude. And the father’s likely reaction would hark back to the original interpretation of the expression, “You go, boy!”

Pick your hypothesis or ignore both of them. Since I make no pretense about doing any serious genealogical research I feel free to have some fun with the subject of how my surname came to be. Real genealogists do not have that luxury. They can probably find out when and where the name first appeared, but finding out why it took its present form is unlikely. The one thing I can say is that my speculation is bound to offend any McKeands, Scotsmen and Englishmen who find and read this blog. Sorry about that, but it leads to the real subject of this essay.

It is often said that you can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family. Similarly, you can choose your name, but you cannot choose who shares that name with you. When I first created this blog I thought it would be easy for my friends to find it by searching on my name. Given the scarcity of people with my surname, I thought it was possible that I was the only Steve McKeand. It seemed even more likely that the one or two other Steve McKeands would not have a blog or that they would not be prolific writers if they did have a blog or a website. I could not have been more mistaken. One of the other Steve McKeands is a college Professor and an expert on trees and forests. He is also a prolific writer. A list of the articles and studies he has posted takes up many screens when you search for my name. My first reaction was one of disappointment. Why does one person who shares my very uncommon name have to be such a prolific writer?

Fortunately, the name I chose for my blog is reasonably unique. While this makes it unlikely that someone who does not know me will search on the name of my blog, it also makes it easy for my friends to find my blog. I have to admit that it is also unlikely that anyone who does not know me will search on my name. So my attitude about the professor’s long list of writings has changed. As NBA officials used to say, “no harm no foul.”

I do not mind sharing my name with Professor McKeand. It is not like sharing a name with Charles Manson or some other nefarious slug. In the unlikely event that people will mistake me for him I can always tell them I am not the one who does all that valuable research. Since someone who does such notable work has no reason to deny it they will believe me. If a miracle should happen and the general public discovers my blog, however, he might find himself in the position of having to deny that he is the Steve McKeand who writes stories about people farting and such. Obviously, I do not mind being known as the person who writes those stories. Offending people, particularly vociferous people, can have its benefits. The notoriety draws attention to your writing, and prospective publishers like that. I have not had any contact with the Professor Steve McKeand, but it is easy for me to believe that a respected professor in North Carolina has an entirely different opinion about offending people and the notoriety that results from doing it. Which is to say that sharing a name with me could be difficult for him. I may be contentious, but I am not unsympathetic. In my blog I have added my initials (SCM) to the end of my name to help people distinguish between us.

All I can say to the good professor is: Good luck, Steve! Keep up the good work, and I will keep writing the stories I want to write regardless of who might be offended by the language or content. The fact that we share such an uncommon name means we must be related to each other. I know my grandfather was the first of my branch of the family to arrive in America. I doubt that we can trace our common ancestry to anyone in this country, but who knows. We certainly share ancestors in Scotland. Maybe I will get serious about tracing the origins of the name someday, but I do not think that will happen anytime soon. If you read this, I hope you are amused rather than offended. In spite of the impression I might have created in the foregoing, I do write to entertain rather than offend.

First published in macsbackporch.blogspot.com on Jul. 1, 2009