The word clan comes from the Gaelic "clann", meaning children. Despite this literal translation, clan members were not all biologically related. A Scottish clan can be better thought of as many small, tight knit families living closely in community, usually under a chief. Although familial associations exist, old Scottish clans were more like a village of many families than a single biological family, although usually one biological family could be found at the center of the clan.
As Sir Walter Scott and other authors of the 18th Century romanticized old Scottish culture, myths and misconceptions regarding the clans of the highlands abounded. It was during this time that the public began to equate surname with clan. This led to the widespread belief that all clansmen were members of the same lineage, directly descending from the original clan chief, which simply isn’t true. Although in modern times there is an official clan registry and structural system recognized b
