A form of the name Gardyne which takes it’s name from the barony of Gardyne in the parish of Kirkden, Angus. The name is common in Arbroath and surroundings, and people of this name have held lands in Aberdeen, Banff, and Perth for centuries. Gardyn of Edinburghshire rendered homage in 1296. Patrick Gardyne de eodem […]
The Shaw clan is derived from Shaw MacDuff, who was a younger son of the Thane of Fife. Shaw was made keeper of the royal castle of Inverness and his heirs became known as the ‘Mhic an Toiseach’ or the ‘sons of the Thane’. The Shaw family were constantly beset by the belligerent powers of […]
The name Pitcairn, or Pitcairns, is a local one, coming from the lands of Pitcairn in the Parish of Leslie, Fife, which are claimed to be one of the oldest in the ancient Kingdom. William de Petkaran was a juror at some point before 1249 in Dunfermline, and John de Petcarn, or Pitcairn, was given, […]
The vikings termed marsh dwellers “kjrr”. When their descendants arrived in Britain from Normandy with William the Conqueror the term had become a name with the forms Ker and Kerr, also Carr and Carre. From Arran on the Celtic West Coast comes a claim that the name is derived from the Gaelic for “strength”. Scottish […]
The surname Turnbull is one of a number of Scottish names where early etymologists have provided a romantic origin. It is said that the name Turnbull was given to a man called Rule by King Robert I. According the legend Rule saved the life of the king by ‘turning’ a charging bull which was threatening […]
This name Somerville derives from a town in Normandy, near Caen. During the Norman invasion of England in 1066, Sir Gaulter de Somerville accompanied the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror. William de Somerville, the second son of Sir Gaulter, came to Scotland with David I and was created Lord of Carnwath, receiving the lands […]
There are three distinct origins of the name Morrison – two Hebridean and one mainland derivation that have all come to be spelt the same way. The Aberdeenshire branch were originally ‘sons of Maurice’ and seem to have no connection with the Hebridean clan. In the Hebrides, one branch of the clan claims its descent […]
McIver Tartans McIver Tartan
the ancestry of the name agnew is not unusual in that it appears to have two possible sources; the most accepted version is that the name is french in origin, coming from the barony d’agneaux in normandy who settled first in england and then migrated north to liddesdale around the 12th century. the other possibility […]
The surname Roberton is of territorial origin, coming from the ancient manor of the same name, now in the parish of Roberton in Lanarkshire. The manner belonged to Robert (brother of Lambin who gave his name to Lamington) during the reign of Malcolm IV, and it was from him the name was taken. A charter, […]
