The name "MacIntyre" (), means "son of a carpenter", or "son of a craftsman". Iain Moncreiffe notes that some consider the name to be a trade name, equivalent to the names "Wright" or "MacNair" ("son of the heir") and attribute the existence of the surname in various parts of Scotland to the fact that the name signifies descent from various individuals who were wood workers. In 1990, Scotland's heraldic authority, the Lord Lyon King of Arms, recognised MacIntyre of Glenoe as Chief of the Name and Arms of the name "MacIntyre". Although several works mention a "Black Book of Glen Noe", now lost, said to have contained the history of Clan MacIntyre, no documented record of the clan's origins has ever been discovered. There are, however, several accounts that purport to identify its founder and explain its name. The most frequently repeated story ties the MacIntyres to Somerled, who lived in the 12th century and who has been described as "one of the greatest warrior kings born to the Gaels of Alba (Scotland)." An ambitious figure almost from the outset, Somerled sought the hand of Ragnhilda, daughter of King Olav the Red, Norse King of Man and the Isles. The story of how, after being initially rebuffed by that island magnate, Somerled would ultimately succeed through the stealth of one of his kinsmen, is recorded in the history of MacDonald of Sleat.