McGeachie is a name of Irish origin, known in Gaelic as Mag Eachaidh, or, in the Ulster variant, Mag Eochadha. There was a M’Gachie recorded in Bordland in 1684, and a Neil M’Gechie in 1686, in Portadow, part of the Kilchenzie parish in Argyll. There is also a Robert M’Keachie recorded in Darnow, Wigtown, in […]
The Earldom of Sutherland is claimed to be the oldest in Britain. The Sutherland clan derive their name from the territory known as Sudrland by the Norsemen who had conquered much of the Scottish mainland north of Inverness. The family are thought to be of Flemish origin, descendants of Freskin, who is also an ancestor […]
The origin of the name is alternatively descriptive or geographic, though it is undoubtedly Gaelic. As a descriptive term the name may derive from ‘buidhe’ meaning ‘fair’ or ‘yellow’. It may also refer to Bute, the island next in size to Arran, that is called ‘Bod” in Gaelic, the genitive case of which is ‘Boid.’ […]
An area of Midlothian may have given rise to this name. Possibly from the Anglo Saxon meaning ‘Place of the Crane’. The families that settled here and took the name owning lands around Edinburgh and Roxburghshire, the first recording of the name was Elfric de Cranston who is one of the witnesses to a charter […]
The founder of the MacKintosh clan is reputed to have been Shaw MacDuff, second son of the Earl of Fife, and a member of the royal house of Dalriada. He travelled north with Malcolm IV in the twelfth century to suppress rebellion in Morayshire and was granted lands in the Findhorn valley. These lands became […]
The most popular derivation of the name Dalziel is the Gaelic ‘dal-gheail’ meaning ‘white meadow’, referring to the colour of the local soil. There are so many different forms of this name that over 200 have been recorded. The name originates in Lanarkshire, although it can also be found in Shetland, being named for the […]
The MacKinnons claim their descent from the royal family of Kenneth MacAlpine. The clan slogan of “Cumnich Bas Alpin” or “Remember the death of Alpin” refers to the great-grandson of Kenneth, who was slain by Bruch, King of the Picts, in 837. His son Fingon, or “fair-born” is hailed as the progenitor of the clan. […]
The name Newton is of local origin, from place with the name, and essentially meaning ‘new town’. In 1296, both Huwe de Neutone and James de Neutone of the Edinburgh area rendered their allegiance to England’s Edward I by signing the Ragman Rolls. An assize on the preambulation of the bounds of Gladmor was Alexander […]
Blackstocks are a Scottish family whose Chief was officially recognized in about 1565 where his Arms “Blackstock of that ilk” appears in one of the Lyon Court heraldic manuscripts namely the Workmans Manuscript where the Arms are blazoned “Argent, three trunks of trees, coupled under and above sable”. The name comes from a locality (now […]
There are lots of Thom(p)sons around, it is one of the most common names in Scotland today, Thom(p)son is popular in the Borders, Lothians, Perth/Argyle. Even in Shetlands where the name was ‘Thomason’ ‘Son of Thomas’. The name Thom(p)son is patronymic, in that the next generation is named after the father’s personal name. So means […]
