Well, I'm new at this. I'm hoping to trace back my family roots. My uncle has already done much research, but seeing as he lives several states away, I figure I will just have to do it myself. I know that my ancestors come from Scotland, a long line back, and that our surname means 'horse lover' or 'lover of horses' which is extremely true in my case. Imagine my shock when I learned that. I have learned that there were seven brothers that feauded over the years, all with the name MacKillop. This feuding eventually resulted in the name being changed and varied, to distinguish themselves from their brothers. And as they had children, our family grew. I know our coat of arms-i have seen it. It has a buck on it, and the colors around it are red and yellow, and I have found our motto, 'Cadal cha'n Aom air fear faire' which translates to either 'steal without the notice of the watchman' or 'sleep will not overtake the watchman'. I personally view the second as more likely because of the variation of the first verb in the phrase. I hope that anyone with this name variant will contact me and possibly help me in my search. This includes McKellip, MacKillop, McKillop, McKillip, ect. Maybe we could both find kin!