 McLeod, McIver, Rogers, Neeson and Gleason are just some examples of surnames that are connected to the Vikings. Research from the Centre for Nordic Studies, the University of the Highlands and the Islands, and the TV channel History looked at the Viking legacy on surnames a few years ago. One of the main findings of the study is that people that have son at the end of their names, such as Henderson or Hobson, are potentially connected to the Vikings. Dr. Alexandra Sandmark, from the University of the Highlands and the Islands, explained that during the Viking Age, people did not have family names as we know them today, and that children were named after their father and occasionally their mother. So, for example, the son of Iver would be given his own first name, but then also Iver's son, as his surname, a daughter would be Iver's daughter. In Scotland and Ireland, Mick or Mack is simply the prefix surname, meaning son of, so Mackiva literally means son of Iver. Equally, McLeod means son of Loud, with Loud being an old Norse word meaning ugly, unfortunately, but this was a pretty common personal name in both Iceland and Norway during the Medieval period. The clamor cloud of Lewis claims its descent from Loud, leo'd however you want to pronounce it, who, according to their tradition at least, was one of the sons of Olaf the Black, a 13th century king of the Isles, a kind of Norse Gaelic kingdom that encompassed many of the Scottish islands for a large period. Please let me know your surname in the comments below, in any interesting connections. Popular Irish celebrities who have potentially Viking-influenced surnames include Paul Hewson, also known as Bonnell, the U2 frontman. Others include Brendan Rogers, the Leicester City manager, former Celtic manager, Liam Neeson and Brendan Gleeson, the two popular actors, also have Viking-connected surnames. Brendan Gleeson himself, actor of love, actually looks somewhat like what I imagine a Viking would have looked like. The popularity of the Vikings was also revealed in this study, of the 2,000 people surveyed, over 56% of people wanted to be connected in some way to the Vikings, wanted to have Viking ancestry to some degree. Here is a list of surnames that are connected in some way to Old Norse. It is quite an extensive list, so I'll put a link in the description below as well. Some of the names on this list include Asquith, Gael and Willoughby. This is an interesting map as well. This shows it and is kind of like a simple breakdown of the percentage of Viking ancestry in different parts of Britain and Ireland. Unsurprisingly, the likes of Shetland and Orkney have the highest amount, well over 20%, 25% or so, and then it filters down from there. Parts of Ireland have the lowest amounts, according to this map at least. In general, however, Shetland and Orkney are definitely considered to have the highest percentage of Viking ancestry, and then parts of the Isles of Scotland have a reasonable large amount as well, which makes sense considering that Northsdale Kingdoms ruled that region for centuries, so it makes sense looking at this map, the general reflection of Viking legacy and ancestry, considering the history of these territories. The reason why there is such an influence of the Vikings on Britain and Ireland, on the surnames of Britain and Ireland, is obviously due to Viking raids. But why did Vikings raid other lands? To find out, click here. Thanks for watching. If you would like to support this work through Patreon, buy me a coffee dot com, or through PayPal, all the links are in the description below. Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you next time.