The Children of Farquhar Mac Fhearchair - the modern Gaelic spelling of the family name, means son of Farquhar. Farquhar or Fhearchair from the Gaelic 'Fhear' and 'chair' means 'Dear one'. McKercher, McKerchar, McKeracher, McKerracher, McKerricher, McKericher, McEracher, McFarquhar and Farquharson - are all pronounced the same way in Gaelic. The spelling is simply a reflection of the adoption of localization in the spelling - with Anglicization. The finalization of the name spelling varied depending on time and location, but generally occurred following 1812. Prior to this, all the variants occurred in records, depending on who and what was being recorded. All of these families - with any of the spellings - belong to Clan Farquharson or Clann Fhearchair. McKercher and McKerchar are generally the finalized highland spellings in official records, while McKerracher/McKerrachar is the finalized lowland spelling in official records - specifically for McKerchers from Perthshire. The descendants of these families who moved to the new world in the early 1800's or prior would finalize their names according to whether they came from the highlands or lowlands in most cases, while others chose differing variants. The use of 'Mac' or the abbreviated 'Mc' is most often interchangeable in Scotland, while it is fixed elsewhere. Of the name variants, both McFarquhar and Farquharson are generally found outside of Perthshire, except for Farquharson in Atholl and Grandtully, Logierait. Farquharson is the name and spelling adopted by those from Aberdeenshire, while McFarquhar is the name and spelling of those from Inverness-shire and Nairnshire. These families are related but separate branches to that of the McKerchers of Perthshire. Farquhar Beg Mackintosh-Shaw left Rothiemurchus about 1450 and moved south-east over the Cairngorm mountains through the pass of Lairig Ghrue to settle in the Braes of Mar of the upper Deeside on the Clunie. His son Donald MacFearchar had two sons - Farquhar - the eldest who resided at Coldrach, and Finlay Mor who resided at Braemar. The sons feuded and Farquhar's descendants moved south to Atholl and on to Glenlyon, Kenmore and Grandtully, while Finlay Mor would go on to found Clan Farquharson of Invercauld. Farquhar's descendants would retain the name Shaw or MacFearchar or McKercher; the Grandtully families would also sometimes take the name Farquharson. This project is to compare the McKercher/McKerracher and Farquharson DNA of the Perthshire families and their descendants around the world. Surnames in this Project: Farquharson, MacKaracher, MacKerchar, MacKercher, MacKericher, MacKerracher, McKaracher, McKeracher, McKerchar, McKercher, McKericher, McKerracher, Shaw