# Earliest Maharg **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037 "2018-11-05T20:38:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/21 "2018-11-07T19:58:33Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > šŸ˜• Are you maybe thinking of [Foss, Oklahoma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss,_Oklahoma)? Oops, youā€™re right. It was in Oklahoma. I was posting from memory, which of course is fallible. Thereā€™s no folklore about surname Maharg being a reversal of Graham. It was just my suspicion montior that came up with it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/22 "2018-11-07T20:13:14Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Thereā€™s no folklore about surname Maharg being a reversal of Graham. It was just my suspicion montior that came up with it. Uh, your suspicion monitor was scooped long ago: there are tons of sources asserting this folk etymology, such as [this instance from 2003](https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/surnames.meharg/36/mb.ashx). A lot of Grahams/Mahargs/Mehargs etc. apparently believe this legend. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/23 "2018-11-07T20:48:35Z")
His monitor might have been scooped, but what about his montior? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/24 "2018-11-07T21:51:12Z")
I was politely ignoring the typo as I felt I had already been Nitpicky Asshole enough for one thread. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/25 "2018-11-08T04:13:44Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Uh, your suspicion monitor was scooped long ago: there are tons of sources asserting this folk etymology, such as [this instance from 2003](https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/surnames.meharg/36/mb.ashx). A lot of Grahams/Mahargs/Mehargs etc. apparently believe this legend. Needless to say, I was totally unaware of such things. However, in retrospect, Iā€™m not surprised about it. > [@Chronos](#): > > His monitor might have been scooped, but what about his montior? My suspicion montior will continue to montior for suspicious tyops. ---
**Author:** ![normanGraham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@normanGraham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/normanGraham)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/26 "2025-12-12T00:31:54Z")
The ā€œBorder Grahamsā€, patrolled the border, and were given power by the King of England. But, they got a little too big for their britches. They were raiding upper England. England decided the Grahamā€™s were the primary raiders, and banished the Border Grahams to Ireland, and if/when they returned, they were to be culled. At that time, some whom did not want to leave, reversed their names to Maharg. James VI of Scotland became James I of England at the Union of the Crowns in 1603, he saw the need to dismantle the border security zone called ā€œThe Marches.ā€ The Grahams were singled out as the lead troublemakers and ordered banished to Ireland in 1606. hence, Iā€™m not a Graham, Iā€™m a Maharg became a thing. Itā€™s unknown if any Grahams were really culled, but they were banished. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/27 "2025-12-12T01:09:21Z")
Welcome to the boards, and thanks for your insightful ā€¦ insight. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/28 "2025-12-12T01:13:46Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > palindromes In first place: Cambodian dictator **Lon Nol** ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2025, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037/29 "2025-12-12T04:02:59Z")
The oldest name on findagrave is from 1768, John Hard Maharg. I found a press account of a Robert Maharg dated 1784 from Newtown NY, where he and his sister were to receive some money for having cared for their late brother Alexander Maharg. Rather thin track record on that name in the States. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-maharg/824037.md?page=1)