Clan Claus Septs (Associated Families)

Claus Septs

Mac and Mc & Spelling Variations

There is quite a bit of misinformation and errors about this. Mac simply means “son of”, and Mc and M’ are simply abbreviations of Mac. Some think that Mc is Irish and Mac is Scottish, but this is not true. In both Ireland and Scotland, as well as other countries in the world this holds true.

There are many spelling variations of names. For instance, some of the ways that the name Claus has been varied are; MacClaus, McClaus, M’Claus, Mclaus, Klaus, Klaws, etc. The usage of a capitol or lower case letter after the Mac is also just a variation. Some individuals insist on using a lower case letter in this case. This is not incorrect or correct, rather it is only a personal preference.

Several reasons are behind these variations in a name. Some emigrants, who went to other countries, changed their own names to avoid persecution and ridicule. Some wanted to “Americanize” their names. Some individuals, while being processed through emigration in different countries, might have been illiterate and could not write or spell. In these cases the emigration officials wrote down what they interpreted the immigrant as having said and therefore many spelling variations and complete name changes occurred.