From Where Does The Surname Originate? ^{meaning and history}

User-submitted Reference

Kenneth MacAlpin (Coinneach mac Ailpein), was a Pictish monarch and first King of Alba (a merging of Dál Riata and the Pictish territories), who later was claimed to have been the first King of Scotland but more accurately was the last Pictish King. Several Pictish kings were named Alpin but were dead at the time of Kenneth's birth; his parents likely came from Dál Riata as told by his decendants as of King Alpin of Dál Riata, but also could be Eochaid IV, "The Venomous" and Queen Fergusa. In his book, "The Scottish Tartans," Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, Lord Lyon King of Arms, refers to the claim that the MacAlpin Royal Clan is the most ancient in the Highlands. It is possible that Kenneth MacAlpin also stole the Pictish throne for which received the epithet An Ferbasach "The Conqueror" after the so-called Treason of MacAlpin, as Kenneth's father was possibly king of Dál Riata and his mother was royally descended from Pictish monarchy but could not otherwise inherit the royal title. In 841, the De Instructione Principus says that Kenneth attacked the Pictish army and defeated them, then invited the Pictish king, Drest, and the other nobles to Scone. Either Dál Riata's would become a separate kingdom, or Kenneth would claim the Dál Riatan throne. The Gaels of Dál Riata secretly invaded Scone and killed everyone during a feast by pulling bolts from the benches and killing the Picts in spiked pit traps under the benches. Kenneth became king of both realms, reclaiming his maternal ancestry to establish his claim to the throne of Pictavia and inheriting Dál Riada from his father. He merged the two into one body named Alba, which later became Scotland. The union was likely due to population pressure and cultural integration of Gaelic and Pictish economies, but also from Viking colonization pressure and political unification for mutual defense.

Kenneth's daughter's son or possibly his brother's son (Donald MacAlpin), Girig (Griogair mac Dhunghail, or Greg) alleged liberated the Scottish Church from Pictish rule, although the claim is specious as there was no contemporary Scottish church at that time. The founding of Ecclesgieg, later called St. Cygnus, is a small testament to Girig. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Girig was elaborately aggrandized into a mythological character having conquered England and Ireland.

After Constantine II was beheaded or at least was killed in a battle against the Danes at Inverdora in 877, succession broke down with the death of Áed 878, after which Girig held power until deposed in 889 by Donald II (Dòmhnall "Dásachtach-The Madman"), a year later with him dying in battle in 890. After Girig was deposed, his lineage is no longer accounted for in the royal lines of succession, and thus the throne of Scotland was stolen from the MacGregors.

Girig has also been called "Mac Rath" ("Son of Fortune"), and the line of MacGregors has claimed the disenfranchised Scottish throne ever since.

McGregor was a change from the surname MacGregor during English persecution for possible claims to the Scottish throne as well as cattle theft, and partly in flight to Ireland to hide Scottish ancestry before emigrating onwards.

Denotes the son of Gregory or Gregor. Derived from (Anglo-Greek-Scots) Gregorius, meaning 'watchman' and 'vigilant'.

(Scottish, English) The surname McGregor or MacGregor means 'son of Gregor', or 'son of Gregory'.