This unusual name is a variant of "McCrae", a Scottish and Irish surname which is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "MagRaith", a patronymic from the personal name "Rath", meaning "son of grace", or "prosperity". The variant forms "Mackereth", "M(a)cCraith", and "M(a)cCreath" are found particularly in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. John Makmekrathe (i.e. "son of Macrath") is recorded in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland in 1477 as a chaplain in Ayr, and in the same Register one John Makcreith, in the Barony of Cumnok is recorded in 1535. The marriage of Edward Mackereth and Elizabeth Pollard was recorded at Calverley, Yorkshire, on August 23rd 1655. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Makereth, which was dated 1526, Register of the Freemen of the City of York, during the reign of King Henry VIII, "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.