History of the
MacCord/McCord
Family Name
The McCord surname is an
ancient one, of Celtic origin, with connections to
both Ireland as well as Scotland. It is one of several
anglicized surnames generally acknowledged to have
derived from MacMhircheartach, MacMuicheartach or
MacMhuircheartaigh, translated as son of navigator,
sea navigator, and son of sea ruler or director. In
English Mac and its variations Mc, M’ and Mak
all connote “son of” while the second
half “Cord” and its variations Chord,
Coard, Corda, Corde, Cort, Court, Cuarirt, Cuarta,
Korda, and Korde all translate to “navigator”.
The first direct record of the anglicized spelling
of the name McCord is found in 15th Galloway, Scotland
and in Carrick in the 16th century. The family resided
in the southwestern parts of Scotland, principally
in the parish of Ballantrae, and elsewhere in Ayeshire,
Dumfrieshire, and Wigtownshire. The earliest documented
reference of the McCord family in Scotland mentions
Chief Nigel MacCord in 1471 who owned lands in Wigtownshire.
There is also a reference to the “Ancient MacCord
House of Dumfries”. In 1627 it is recorded that
a William McCord was named as a Burgess of Glasgow.
In the mid to late 1600’s many McCord families
migrated to the Ulster plantations in Northern Ireland
in County Down and County Tyrone. This was followed
by the later migration to America in the 1700’s,
by some of their descendants. They initially settled
in New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania. From
there the migration continued to the south and to
the west as the frontiers was opened for settlement.
Most McCord’s were patriots with over 100 McCord’s
recorded as serving in colonial militias and/or General
George Washington’s armies.
There are two coats of arms for the McCord name
referenced in a 1624 manuscript. One is Irish and
one is Scottish with both being similar. They are
described as follows:
“On a fess sable three pheons or barbed arrowheads
on the first between as many man’s hearts gu(les)
and a mullet for difference. His crest a savage’s
head in his dexter hand a barbed arrow in his sinister
a man’s heart.” The motto is shown as
Via una cor unum or One way one heart in English.
References credited – “Mists of Time”
and “Scots, Kith and Kinn”
Clan
MacCord Society History
