Clan Macpherson is a Highland Scottish clan from Badenoch, on the Spey River in Scotland. The name Macpherson -- or MacPherson or McPherson, according to different spellings -- comes from the Gaelic Mac a' Phearsain and means 'Son of the Parson'. The Parson in question was Muriach, a 12th century parson, or lay preacher, of Kingussie in Badenoch. The history of Clan Macpherson has been called "The Posterity of the Three Brethren" as the three grandsons of Muriach are the antecedents of the three main clan families, Cluny, Pitmain and Invereshie So, the Clan McPherson dates to the 12th century and is some 900 years old.