The Fourteenth Century
"early part" of the Fourteenth Century
See Its First Appearance as a Surname:
There were no family or hereditary surnames in the Highlands of Scotland until the early part of the fourteenth century.
See The Connection of the Macraes with the House of Kintail:
Probably during the first half of the fourteenth century, One of the sons of Macrae of Clunes is said to have gone to Kintail. This was probably during the first half before the family of Mackenzie was very firmly established there. He might have been attracted to Kintail, perhaps by family connections, but quite as likely by the fact that, as the Chief of Kintail was still struggling to establish his family there, the circumstances of the country might afford opportunities of distinction and advancement for a man of enterprise. It is a singular fact that each of the first five Barons of Kintail had only one lawful son to succeed him. Mackenzie being thus without any male kindred of his own blood, earnestly urged Macrae to remain with him in Kintail. Mackenzie's proposals were accepted, and Macrae settled in Kintail, where he married one Macbeolan or Gillanders, a kinswoman of the Earls of Ross, by whom Kintail was held before it came into the possession of the Mackenzies.