Buchanans

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Members of the Scottish-derived Buchanan family, or several people who share the surname Buchanan
2. A group of people bearing the Buchanan surname, such as the relatives of a family named Buchanan
3. Several individuals from the Buchanan family line, especially those sharing that Scottish surname

Etymology: "Buchanans" is the plural of the surname Buchanan, so it refers to several people who share that name. The surname comes from a place in Stirlingshire, Scotland, and the place name is generally traced to Scottish Gaelic. It probably combines "both," meaning a dwelling, with the name of an early Celtic saint, Canan, though the exact meaning of that saint's name is uncertain. The name became attached to a Highland kin group whose lands lay along the eastern shore of Loch Lomond. Families who held those lands took the place name as their surname, and it later spread with Scottish emigrants, which is why the surname is now common well beyond Scotland.