Patronymic was used by illegitimate royal children who were acknowledged as such by their fathers. The use of "Mac" in some form was prevalent in Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx, in all of which it denotes "son". "Mc" is also a frequent anglicisation in both Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, the forms "Mag" and "M'" are encountered. The prefix "Mac" is used to form a patronym, such as "Mac Coinnich" – or the anglicized 'Mackenzie' – son of Coinneach/Kenneth. The female equivalent of "Mac" is "Nic", condensed from "nighean mhic" (in Scottish Gaelic) or "iníon mhic" (in Irish), both meaning daughter.
Beaton (surname) as Peutan (masculine form), and Pheutan (feminine form). Beaton (surname) Beaton is a Scottish surname in the English language, which has multiple origins. One origin of the name is from the placename of Béthune, in Pas-de-Calais, France. Another derivation is from the mediaeval personal name "Beaton", "Beton", which is pet form of a short form of the names "Bartholomew" or "Beatrice". "Bartholomew" is a masculine name, while "Beatrice" is a feminine name; the names are not etymologically related to each other. Another derivation of the surname "Beaton" is that it is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Beath". The