McLean History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

In the mountains of Scotland’s west coast and on the Hebrides islands, the ancestors of the McLean family were born. Their name comes from a devotion to St. John. The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic name meaning “son of the servant of Saint John.” The Clan is descended from Eachan Reaganach, (brother of Lachlan the progenitor of the Macleans of Duart). These two brothers were both descended from Gilleathain na Tuaidh, known as ‘Gillian of the Battleaxe’, a famed warrior of the 5th century. Eachan, or Hector was given the lands of Lochbuie from John, the first Lord of the Isles, some time in the 14th century.

Early Origins of the McLean family

The surname McLean was first found in the Western Isles where the Clan held extensive lands on almost every island in the Western Hebrides.