Anderson Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Anderson Family History

Anderson Family History

The family history of the ancient name Anderson was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Meaning 'son of Andrew', the variant forms of the name Anderson include Anders and MacAndrews. The Scottish MacAndrews came to Badenoch from Moedart in the year 1400. They are regarded as a sept of Clan Chattan, having been associated with the confederation of Clans since the fifteenth century. A famous member of the Clan was John MacAndrew of Dalnahatnich, known as Ian Beg MacAindrea. He was a great bowman and terrorised all who he fought against. In 1670 Ian Beg and his men caught and killed all but one of some Lochaber men for raiding cattle. The man who escaped told of his comrades fate and so the men of Lochaber swore vengeance on Ian Beg. Consequently he lead a very unsettled existence for many years. In Ireland the name Anderson is usually of immigrant origin having been introduced into Ulster Province by settlers and traders who arrived from Scotland and England, especially during the seventeenth century.The Anderson family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Anderson descendants.