Question about spellings of last names?

Question

Like the name McCarson. Names that begin with MCC...
Why do people put a line or double lines (- or =) under the first little c?
Anyone know why?

Answer 1

I am not completely sure of that...unless it is to denote that the spelling could be MacCarson...instead of McCarson.

Answer 2

Just a guess: There are lots of marks used by printers to correct errors and highlight words in handwritten copy before it's put in typeset on the printing machine. When going from handwriting to typesetting it may have been hard to tell a small 'e' from a small 'c', so to make it clear the name was McCarson and not Mecarson, editors put 2 lines under the first c. Then the typesetter knew which letter to put on the printer.

Many of these "extra instruction" notations are still used today -- like the CC: in your email to indicate the message has been copied to some other than the TO: person

Answer 3

This is something my family does. It denotes that the name started out as a "Mac" and dropped the "a" to become "Mc", often in a move from Scotland to Ireland. The double line holds the place of the "a" , much like an apostrophe in conjunction

Answer 4

I think its to show that the Mc is a prefix since there are 2 C's

instead of this = Mccarson or MCCarson

its = McCarson with the lines
thats what i think

Answer 5

It is simply a custom the name is actually Mac.Blogo
but some shorten it to Mc.Blogo and over a period of time it became acceptable.

I am no expert but I think the Mac means of the Clan Blogo

Answer 6

It is a contracction of "mac". It meant "son of." Ex. McDonald was "the son of Donald." The same is true of the 'O' in names like O'Reilly.