Hi Diana: In a book on Scottish names it stated that that the name McEachern and McKechnie interchangeable. Sorry I can't put my hand on it at the moment. I have connections to the McKechnies. The following is a small portion of my family tree: Donald changed his name to Murdoch and Flora changed her name to McEachern Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman Neil, 16,Jul,1822, *Murdoch, Donald McKechnie,Flora * Kilchoman Isabella 1823? Portnahaven Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman *Mary, 31,Mar,1824, Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman Catherine, 26,Jun,1826, (Note change of Catherin's name to Murdoch on her headstone) Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman Donald, 20,Oct,1828, Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman John 15,Dec,1830, Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman Barbara 15,Dec,1830 Twins Murphy,Donald, McEachern,Flory, Kilchoman *William, 13,Jul,1833, Archibald ? (from death cert of Donald) Kilchoman 92 Donald Murdoch d 1865 age 80 sp of Flora McEachern Flora Murdoch nee McEachern *Mary ? nee Murdoch d 1846 age 20 dau Donald Murdoch and Flora McEachern *William Murdoch d 1836 1.1/2 son of Donald Murdoch and Flora McEachern Kilarrow Catherine Caskie nee Murdock d 10 Jan 1906 age 77 wife of Thomas Caskie (Her death cert says she was daughter of Donald Murdoch and Flora McEachern The above people were all from the Portnahaven/Kilchoman area. If you go to the birth deaths and marriages on Ted Larson's site you will find some McKechnies listed. You need also to check the McEachern name (all spellings!) Good luck Janet, Ontario Diana <dianado@shaw.ca> wrote: Hello again, Listers! Just wondering if someone can tell me if McKECHNIE is a variant spelling of McEACHERN? I have an ancestor who is a McKECHNIE from Islay but I haven't found that surname in the census that I've searched so far for Islay. Is anyone familiar with the surname McKECHNIE from Islay? Thanks, Diana in British Columbia, Canada ==== SCT-ISLAY Mailing List ==== You can find older, archived messages from this mailing list by visiting: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~steve/islay/archive1.htm - and from April 1999, you can access archived messages at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SCT-ISLAY --------------------------------- All new Yahoo! Mail - --------------------------------- Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane.