Is McAlpine a real surname and where does it come from?

Question

In the UK there's a construction company called McAlpine and it struck me that this name suggests both a Scottish and European background. Anyone got an explanation?

Answer 1

yes it is a real surname.

from Scotland and Northern Ireland
anglisized version of MacAilpien (Scottish) or MacAilpean (Irish)
Means son of Ailpean the founder of the clan. the meaning of Ailpean (Ailpien) is something like attractive or handsome.

other spellings are MacAlpine, MacAlpin, MacAilpien


edit: one source said Ailpean meant "handsome" but another said "fair or white".

Answer 2

Yes It`s a real Scottish surname.
See the site McAlpine Surname research Center in
http://www.scottmcalpine.com/genealogy.html

Good luck and Happy Christmas

Answer 3

Yes McAlpine is very real.

You never heard of Hamish McAlpine the Dundee United goalkeeper! You need to have a look at the link below.

Answer 4

Welcome back by the way, where have you been?

ORIGIN OF THE SURNAME McALPINE


Hereditary surnames (surnames that stay the same and are passed on from parents to children) were practically nonexistent until about 1100 A.D. In Ireland, surnames appeared in the 900's among royalty and clergy, and they had become hereditary by the thirteenth century. In Scotland, they were in limited use around 1150 A.D. for similar classes of people, and they became more or less stabilized in the period 1500-1700 A.D. However, it was not until the eighteenth century that consistent use of surnames became universally established in the Highlands of Scotland.


The surname, McAlpine, is a patronym based on Alpin or variations such as Alpine, Ailpean, Ailpein, Ailpin, Ailphin, Elphin and Elpin. The root name, Alpin, is of Pictish origin from the southern Strathearn or Strathclyde regions of Scotland. It seems probable that the origin of the surname Alpin itself, stems from Albyn or Alba (Scottish Pictland Highlands), the original name of the old Pictish kingdom adjacent to Dalriada. However some writers have suggested that the name Alpin is derived from the Gaelic word "ailpean", meaning elf. Still others feel that there is a connection between the names Alba, Alpin and the Celtic word alp, meaning "high mountain". Interestingly enough, that is the name applied to the Alps mountains of Europe which, from prehistoric times until the Roman conquest of the Gauls (60-52 B.C.), constituted part of the territory inhabited by the Celtic people.


Nora Chadwick5, noted that in early references to the death of Nial-of-the-Nine Hostages (a famous fifth century High King of Ireland) "i Alpi" probably means "in Alba" rather than "in the Alps".


According to the earliest historical records, there were several ancient Pictish/Dalriadic kings, or sub-kings, named Alpin, or Elpin, who ruled over certain areas of Pictland and/or Dalriada before the time of Alpin the Scot, a displaced eighth century king of Dalriada (see Chart 1). Alpin the Scot is especially significant because he was the father of King Kenneth McAlpin, who succeeded him in 841 A.D. and is generally recognized as the first King of both the Picts and the Scots (843). Kenneth, sometimes called Kenneth the Great or Kenneth the Hardy, is also generally accepted as the first one to whom the surname McAlpin was applied. The final e has been added and dropped repeatedly throughout the course of time. The prefixes Mc and Mac are simply contractions of the Gaelic word for "son of" or "grandson of". In Ireland it was usually transliterated as "Mc", and in Scotland as "Mac". Sometimes it appears simply as "M' ". Many different spellings of McAlpine are found, including MacAlpin, MacAlpine, Macalpin, Macalpine, McAlpin, McAlpy, McAlpyne, etc.; and of course, there are other surnames derived from it such as Calpin, Kelpin, Elpin, Elphin, with and without the Mc or Mac.

Answer 5

The MacAlpines supposedly descend from the first King of Scotland, Kenneth MacAlphin, who united the Scots and Picts.

See: http://www.macalpineclan.com

Answer 6

Yes it is! I even have a 37th Great-Grandfather named that (yea, right).

Really though, in my "just for fun" section of my genealogy (I don't pretend for a second it is legitimate except for the existence of most of the people), I have born about abt. 780 a man "Alpine". He was King of Argyll and King of the Northern Picts.

And his son....was Kenneth MacAlpine (King of Alba). Or Kenneth son of Alpine.

Not that I believe this is really my 37th great grandfather, but it certainly seems certified that these people actually existed.