Origin
ADAIR : (Celtic and Gaelic.) Local. From Ath, a ford, and dare, from darach, the place of oaks, The ford of the oaks.'' There is the following tradition of the origin of this surname: Thomas, the sixth Earl of Desmond, while on a hunting excursion was benighted, and lost his way, between Tralee and Newcastle, in the county of Limerick, where he was received and hospitably entertained by one William McCormic, whose daughter he subsequently married. At this alliance, the family and clan took umbrage. Resigning his title and estate to his youngest brother, he fled to France in 1418, and died of grief at Rouen, two years afterward. The King of England attended his funeral. He had issue, Maurice and John; Robert, the son of Maurice, returning to Ireland, with the hope of regaining the estates and title of Thomas, his ancestor, slew Gerald, the White Knight in single combat at Athdare, the ford of the oaks, whence he received the name of Adaire. He embarked for Scotland, where he married Arabella, daughter of John Campbell, Lord of Argyle.
AGNEW : (Nor. Fr.) Local. From the town of Agneau in Normandy, whence the family originated. They went from England into Ireland with Strongbow. Agneau, in Nor. Fr. signifies a lamb.
ANGLE : (Greek;.) From the Greek messenger; also the name of a town in France where the family may have originated.
ANGEL : (Greek;.) From the Greek messenger; also the name of a town in France where the family may have originated.
ARMSTRONG : A name given for strength in battle. Historians relate the following tradition: This family was anciently settled on the Scottish border; their original name was Fairbairn, which was changed to Armstrong on the following occasion: An ancient king of Scotland having had his horse killed under him in battle, was immediately re-mounted by Fairbairn, his armor-bearer, on his own horse. For this timely assistance he amply rewarded him with lands on the borders, and to perpetuate the memory of so important a service, as well as the manner in which it was performed (for Fairbairn took the king by the thigh, and set him on the saddle), his royal master gave him the appellation of Armstrong. The chief seat of Johnnie Armstrong was Gilnockie, in Eskdale, a place of exquisite beauty. Johnnie was executed by order of James V., in 1529, as a Border Freebooter. Andrew Armstrong sold his patrimony to one of his kinsmen, and emigrated to the north of Ireland in the commencement of the seventeenth century. The Armstrongs were always noted for their courage and daring. In the Lay of the Last Minstrel, when the chief was about to assemble his clans, he says to his heralds: Ye need not go to Liddisdale, For whon they see the blazing bale, Elliots and Armstrongs never fail
ATHILL : Local. At (the) hill. This family formerly bore the name of De la Hou, that is, of the hill which was anglicized into Athill. They came originally from Normandy.
AYLMER : This family trace their name and descent from Ailmer or Athelmare, Earl of Cornwall, in the time of King Ethelred. Allmor, in Welsh, signifies a valley or dale.
AYRES : Local. Derived from a river, town, and district of the same name in Scotland. Air, Gaelic. Derivation uncertain. It may come from Iar, west the course in which the river runs; or Air, slaughter, the place of battle. The Celtic Aer, and the Welsh Awyr, signify, radically, to open, expand or flow clearly; to shoot or radiate. In Thorpe's catalogue of the deeds of Battle Abbey, we find the following legendary account of this name: Ayres, formerly Eyre. The first of this family was named Truelove, one of the followers of William the Conqueror. At the battle of Hastings, Duke William was flung from his horse, and his helmet beaten into his face, which Truelove observing, pulled off, and horsed him again. The duke told him 'Thou shalt hereafter from Truelove be called Eyre (or Air), because thou hast given me the air I breathe.' After the battle, the Duke, on inquiry respecting him, found him severely wounded (his leg and thigh having been struck off); he ordered him the utmost care, and on his recovery, gave him lands in Derby, in reward for his services, and the leg and thigh in armor, cut off, for his crest; an honorary badge yet worn by all the Eyres in England.
BARNES : A distinguished family of Sotterly, Co. Suffolk, England. Bearn, local, a city in France. Barnyz, Cor. Br., a judge.
BARNUM : Local. A corruption of Bearnham, the town in the wood or hill. Bern, in the Swiss language, signifies a bear. This family was originally of Southwick, County Hants, England.
BELLEW : (Nor. Fr.) De Bellew, a corruption of De Belle Eau, that is, from the beautiful water. The family originally came from Italy; they went into England with William the Conqueror, and afterward settled in Meath, Ireland.
BLACKWOOD : Local. This family derived their name from the lands of Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, in Scotland, called Blackwood.
BLAKE : A corruption of the British Ap Lake, from Ap, signifying from, or son, and Lake, the son of Lake. The family went into Ireland with Strongbow, where the name became corrupted into Blake. Ap Lake was one of the knights of Arthur's Round Table.
BLOUNT : (Nor. Fr.) Of fair hair or complexion; from the French Blond. This family trace their origin to the Blondi or Brondi of Italy, so named from their fair complexion. They went into England with William the Conqueror.
BLOUND : (Nor. Fr.) Of fair hair or complexion; from the French Blond. This family trace their origin to the Blondi or Brondi of Italy, so named from their fair complexion. They went into England with William the Conqueror.
BLOND : (Nor. Fr.) Of fair hair or complexion; from the French Blond. This family trace their origin to the Blondi or Brondi of Italy, so named from their fair complexion. They went into England with William the Conqueror.
BLUNT : (Nor. Fr.) Of fair hair or complexion; from the French Blond. This family trace their origin to the Blondi or Brondi of Italy, so named from their fair complexion. They went into England with William the Conqueror.
BOND : The father of a family, Pater familias whence husband, that is, house-bond. Bonde, in Danish, is a peasant, countryman, also a villager.
BORLAND : (Cor. Br.) Local. The high land; the swelling or rising land; from bor, swelling, rising, and lemd. If from the Saxon, it signifies the land belonging to the common people. Bordlands were lands which the lords kept in their hands for the maintenance of their board or table. Borland is the name of a village in Fifeshire, Scotland, whence the family may have originated.
BOVIE : (Fr.) Local. A corruption of Beauvais, a town in France, whence the surname originated, and which signifies the sightly or beautiful place. The family settled in Holland from France.
BOWES : This surname, according to Grose, originated as follows : about the time of the Conqueror, there was a town (on the site of the Castle of Bowes), which the tradition of the family states, was burned. It then belonged to the Earls of Brittany and Richmond. The castle was built, as Mr. Horseley thinks, out of the ruins of the Roman Fortress, by Alan Niger, the second earl of that title, who, it is said, placed therein William, his relation, with five hundred archers to defend it against some insurgents in Cambridge and Westmorland confederated with the Scots, giving him for the device of his standard the arms of Brittany, with three bows and a bundle of arrows, whence both the castle and the commander derived their names; the former being called Bowes Castle, and the latter, William de Arcubus, or William Bowes.
BRUCE : (Nor. Fr.) Local. Be Bruys; from Bruy or Bruys, a place in Normandy where the family originated. De Bruys was one of the followers of William the Conqueror, and fought at the battle of Hastings. From this ancestor, King Robert Bruce was descended.
BULLIONS : Probably local, from Bolleyne, a town in France, whence the family of Anne Boleyne took their name; or from the city of Boulogne, which was so called from Beul, Gaelic, the mouth, and Liane, the river, or the mouth of Liane, it being situated at the mouth of that river.
BURKE : A corruption of (De) Burgo, as the name was formerly written, that is, from the fort, castle, hill, or city. This family went from Normandy into England with the Conqueror, and afterward into Ireland with Strongbow.
BUTLER : This family derive their origin from the old Counts of Briony or Biony, in Normandy, a descendant of whom, Herveius Fitz Walter, accompanied the Conqueror into England. His son, Theobold, went with Henry II into Ireland, where, having greatly assisted in the reduction of the kingdom, he was rewarded with large possessions there, and made it the place of his residence. The king afterward conferred on him the office of chief Butler of Ireland, whence his descendants, the Earls of Ormond and others, took the surname of De Boteler or Butler.
CAMPBELL : (Celtic and Gaelic.) Wry-mouth, the man whose mouth inclined a little on one side; from cam, crooked, distorted, and beul, the mouth. This ancient family may be traced as far back as the beginning of the fifth century, and is said to have been possessed of Lochore, in Argyleshire, as early as the time of Fergus II. Sir Colin Campbell, of Lochore, flourished toward the end of the thirteenth century, and was called Sir Colin More, or Colin the Great. His descendants were called by the Irish Mc Callen, that is, the descendants of Colin.
CARNE : (Welsh.) Local. A rock, a heap of stones. This family claim descent from Ithel, King of Ghent, now Monmouthshire. Thomas o'r Gare, youngest son of Ithel, King of Ghent, was brought up at one of his father's seats called Pencarne (from pen, the head, and came, a rock, a heap of stones), whence he was named Carne, which continues the surname of the family.
CARNES : (Welsh.) Local. A rock, a heap of stones. This family claim descent from Ithel, King of Ghent, now Monmouthshire. Thomas o'r Gare, youngest son of Ithel, King of Ghent, was brought up at one of his father's seats called Pencarne (from pen, the head, and came, a rock, a heap of stones), whence he was named Carne, which continues the surname of the family.
CHALLONER : Local. Derived from a town in France of the same name. This family derive their origin from Macloy Crum, of the line of chiefs in Wales, who resided several years in Challoner.
CLEARY : From the Gaelic Cleireach, a clerk, a clergyman, a writer. A noted family of historians whose estates were in the county of Donnegal, Ireland.
CLERY : From the Gaelic Cleireach, a clerk, a clergyman, a writer. A noted family of historians whose estates were in the county of Donnegal, Ireland.
CLINTON : (Dano-Norman.) Local. Klint, a promontory, brow of a hill, cape; and ton, a town. Colonel Charles Clinton, the progenitor of the distinguished family of Clinton, and his associate emigrants from Ireland, settled, in 1722, in Little Britain, Orange County, New York.
COFFIN : Local. Cyffin, in Welsh, signifies a boundary, a limit, a hill; cefyn, the ridge of a hill. This name has its origin from Co, high, exalted, and fin, a head, extremity, boundary. This family settled early in this country, on the sland of Nantucket, near Cape God, where the name is very common. The following humorous lines, descriptive of the characteristics of the different families residing on that island, were written by one Daniel Allen, a native of the island, more than a hundred years ago: The hasty Coffin, fractious, loud, The silent Gardiner, plotting, The Mitchells good, the Barkers proud, The Macys eat the pudding; The Rays and Russels coopers are, The knowing Folger lazy, A learned Coleman very rare, And scarce an honest Hussey
COLLAMORE : Local. From Coulommier, a town in France. This family originally came into England with William the Conqueror. Colmar, Gaelic, a brave man; Collmor, the great wood.
COLQUHOUN : According to tradition, the progenitor of this family was a younger son of Conach, King of. Ireland, who came to Scotland in the reign of Gregory the Great, and obtained lands in Dumbartonshire, to which he gave the name of Conachon, corrupted into Golquhoun. I am inclined to think the name is from the Gaelic, denoting one who is brave, lively, quick, and furious in battle; from Colg, and chwoin, the genitive of Cu, a hound, a war-dog;
CALHOUN : According to tradition, the progenitor of this family was a younger son of Conach, King of. Ireland, who came to Scotland in the reign of Gregory the Great, and obtained lands in Dumbartonshire, to which he gave the name of Conachon, corrupted into Golquhoun. I am inclined to think the name is from the Gaelic, denoting one who is brave, lively, quick, and furious in battle; from Colg, and chwoin, the genitive of Cu, a hound, a war-dog;
CONDE : May be a Local name from the town of Conde, in the French part of Hainaultt which gave its name to a branch of the royal family of France, the Princes of Conde. Kun-dig or kundy, Dutch, signifies knowing, skillful, expert.
CORNISH : Local. Belonging to Cornwall, indicating the place from which the family came.
CRAWFORD : Local. First assumed by the proprietor of the lands and barony of Crawford, in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The extreme ancestor of the ancient family of Crawford, in Scotland, was Reginald, youngest son of Alan, the fourth Earl of Richmond. He seems to have accompanied David the First to the north, and to have received extensive grants of land in Strath Cluyd, or Clydesdale, whence his immediate descendants adopted the name of Crawford, then forming one of the largest baronies in Scotland, and signifying in Gaelic The pass of blood from cru, bloody, and ford, a pass or way, as commemorative, probably, of some sanguinary conflict between the Aborigines and the Roman invaders. The name has been derived by others from crodh and port, pronounced cro-fort, signifying a sheltering place for cattle.
CROUNSE : Dutch, kruin, the top or crown; krans, a wreath or garland; Krantz, local, a town in the Duchy of Bremen from which the family may have come.
DARRELL : (Nor. Fr.) A corruption of De Orrell, so called from a castle and family of Normandy.
DEVENISH : Local. Signifies deep water. This surname was given to an ancestor of the family who was early settled at the confluence of the rivers Isis and Thames, near Oxford, England. Dwfn, Welsh, deep; uisge, Gaelic, water.
ELTON : There are many places of this name in England; it is impossible to decide from which the family appellation is derived. The derivation is from the Saxon words ael, an eel, and ton a town abounding in eels.
ERRICK : There is a tradition, says Dean Swift, that the ancient family of the Ericks or Herricks derive their lineage from Erick the Forrester, a great commander who raised an army to oppose the invasion of William the Conqueror. Erick is derived from Ehr, German, honor, and rick, rich rich in honor.
ERSKINE : Some writers deduce this family from a noble Florentine wlio came to Scotland in the reign of Kenneth II. It is said, in the reign of Malcolm II, a Scotchman of high distinction having killed with his own hand Enrique, one of the Danish generals, at the battle of Murthill, cut off his head, and with .the, bloody dagger in his hand showed it to the king, and in the Gaelic language said Eriskyne, upon the knife,' alluding to the head and dagger; and in the same language also said, Intend to perform greater actions than what I have done. Whereupon, King Malcolm imposed upon him the surname of Eriskine, and assigned him for his armor-bearings a hand holding a dagger, with Je pense plus for a motto, which has continued to be the crest and motto of this family.
FOLGER : Camden defines the name, Foulgiers, Fearne (fern). Fougeres, local, a town of France, near the frontiers of Normandy. This town has given its name to a noble family. Raoul de Fougers fortified the town, and built the castle.
GARDINER : This name may be derived from the same roots as Gairden. It is probably, however, the same as Gardener, the orthography having been changed. Camden says, Wise was the man that told my Lord Bishop (Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester) that his name was not Gardener as the English pronounce it, but Gardiner, with the French accent, and therefore a gentleman. The principal family of the Gardiners in this country derive their descent from Lion Gardiner, a native of Scotland, who served under General Fairfax in the Low Countries as an engineer. He was sent to this country in 1635, by Lords Say and Sele, Brooke, and others, to build a fort, and make a settlement on their grant at the mouth of the Connecticut river. He built the fort at Saybrook, which name he gave to it after the names of his patrons Lords Say and Brooke. His eldest son, David, born at Fort Saybrook, in 1636, was the first white child born in Connecticut He afterward bought from the Indians the island in Long Island Sound, called by them Monchonack, and by the English the Isle of Wight, paying for it. as the old records say, a black dog, a gun, and some Dutch blankets. He removed there with his family, and gave it the name of Gardiner's Island. The island still remains in the possession of the family, having descended in a direct line from Lion Gardiner.
GILLETT : From Guillot, the French diminutive for William. The family may have come with William the Conqueror into England, from Gillette, a town in Piedmont, France. Gillette, the son of Giles.
GRACE : Originally Le Gros ( the fat or large ), a name given to Raymond, one of the adherents of Strongbow, wbo was the ancestor of the family in Ireland.
GRAY : Local. A town in Burgundy, France, on the banks of the Saone. Rollo, Chamberlain to Robert, Duke of Normandy, received from him the castle and honor of Croy, in Picardy, whence his family assumed the name of De Croy, afterward changed into De Gray.
GROSVENOR : A great hunter or the grand huntsman, from the French Gros veneur. The ancestor of the family assumed the name from holding the office of grand huntsman to the Dukes of Normandy.
GUELPH : A wolf; the surname of the present Royal Family of England. We have the following amusing tradition of the origin of the royal house of Guelph: It is told in the chronicles that as far back as the days of Charlemagne, one Count Isenbrand, who resided near the Lake of Constance, met an old woman who had given birth to three children at once, a circumstance which appeared to him so portentous and unnatural that he assailed her with a torrent of abuse. Stung to fury by his insults, she cursed the Count, and wished that his wife, then enciente, might bring at a birth as many children as there are months in the year. The imprecation was fulfilled, and the countess became the mother of a dozen babes at once. Dreading the vengeance of her severe lord, she bade her maid go drown eleven of the twelve. But whom should the girl meet while on this horrible errand but the Count himself, who, suspecting that all was not right, demanded to know the contents of the basket. 'Welfen,' was the intrepid reply (i e., the old German term for puppies or young wolves). Dissatisfied with this explanation, the Count lifted up the cloth, and found under it eleven bonny infants nestled together. Their unblemished forms reconciled the sorupulous knight, and he resolved to recognize them as his lawful progeny. Thenceforward, their children and their descendants went by the name of Guelph or Welf
HALKETT : The name of Halkett, in the writs of the family, is promiscuously written de Hawkhead” and de Halkett. It is territorial or local, and was assumed by the proprietor of the lands and barony of Hawkshead, in Renfrewshire, as soon as surnames became hereditary in Scotland.
HAMILTON : Originally Hambleton, from the manor of Ham-bleton, in Buckinghamshire. William, third son of Robert, third Earl of Leicester, took that surname from the place of his birth, as above. He was the founder of the family of that name in Scotland, whither he went about the year 1215. The name is derived from Hamell, a mansion, the seat of a freeholder, and dun, an enclosure, a fortified place, a town.
HEAD : Anciently written Hede or Hide. Probably from the place written Hede or Hide in Doomsday Rook, now Hithe, in Kent, England, where the earliest traces of the Head family are found. From the Anglo-Saxon Hithe, a harbor, a shelter for boats.
HOWE : A high place, a hill; critically, a hill in a valley. De La Howe, from the hill, was originally the name of the family. They came to England with William the Conqueror. (See Athill.)
HOO : A high place, a hill; critically, a hill in a valley. De La Howe, from the hill, was originally the name of the family. They came to England with William the Conqueror. (See Athill.)
INGLIS : The name was given in Scotland, to distinguish the family of some English settler. The Englishman. In the ancient records of the family the name Anglicus is often mentioned.
INGLES : The name was given in Scotland, to distinguish the family of some English settler. The Englishman. In the ancient records of the family the name Anglicus is often mentioned.
INNIS : The same as Ennis (which see). This family is of great antiquity in Scotland, and derives its surname from the lands of Innia, a word supposed to be derived from the Gaelic Inch, an island, part of that barony being an island, formed by the two branches of a stream running through the estate.
INNES : The same as Ennis (which see). This family is of great antiquity in Scotland, and derives its surname from the lands of Innia, a word supposed to be derived from the Gaelic Inch, an island, part of that barony being an island, formed by the two branches of a stream running through the estate.
IRISH : A native of Ireland, the country from which the nominal founder of the family came.
KEITH : Local. From the parish and lands of Keith, in Banffshire, Scotland. The name Keith is said to be derived from the Gaelic Gaoth, wind, pronounced somewhat similarly to Keith. The old village and kirk are called Arkeith, which may be a corruption of the Gaelic Ard Quoth, signifying high wind, which corresponds to its locality, which is peculiarly exposed to gusts of wind. In some old charters, Keith is written Gith, which still more resembles Gaith. I think the name is derived from the Welsh Caeth, a place surrounded, shut up, inclosed, a deep hollow, a strait. The root of the word is the Welsh Cau, to close, to shut up. Concerning this family, the traditional account is, that they came from G-ermany in the reign of the Emperor Otho, and from the principality of Hesse, from which they were expelled in some revolution. The first person of this family of whom our oldest historians take notice, is Robert De Keith, to whom Malcom II, King of Scotland, gave the barony of Keith, in East Lothian, as a reward for killing Camus, a Danish general, who then invaded Scotland with a numerous army. The battle was fought at Barry, seven miles from Dundee, where an obelisk, called Camus' stone, still preserves the memory of the victory, and it is said the king, dipping his three fingers in the blood of the general, stroked them along the field of the Scotch champion's shield, to whom, besides the landed estate before mentioned, he gave the dignity of Great Marshal of Scotland.
LECHMERE : Local. This family originally came from the Low Countries. Lech is a branch of the Rhine, which parts from it at Wyke, and running westward, falls into the Maes, before Rotterdam; mere, a lake.
LEIGH : Local. A town in England, a pasture or meadow, the same as Ley, or.Lea. The frequency of this family name in Cheshire, England, led to the old proverb, As many Leighs as fleas, Masseys as asses, and Davenports as dog's tails.
LEGH : Local. A town in England, a pasture or meadow, the same as Ley, or.Lea. The frequency of this family name in Cheshire, England, led to the old proverb, As many Leighs as fleas, Masseys as asses, and Davenports as dog's tails.
LESLIE : This family, according to tradition, descended from Bartholomew de Leslyn, a noble Hungarian, who came to Scotland with Queen Margaret, about the year 1067. He was the son of Walter de Leslyn, who had assumed this surnamefrom the castle of Leslyn, in Hungary, where he was born. Bartholomew being in great favor with Malcom Canmore, obtained from that prince grants of several lands in Aberdeenshire, which it is said he called Leslyn, after his own surname. Malcom de Leslyn., who succeeded him, was the progenitor of all the Leslies in Scotland. Robert Verstegan, in his Antiquities, remarks on the word ley: A combat having taken place in Scotland between a noble of the family of Leslie and a foreign knight, in which the Scot was victorious, the following Unes in memory of tho deed, and the place where it happened, are still extant: Between the Less-Ley and the Mair, He slew the knight and left him there. The name may be derived from Lesslo, a maritime territory in Denmark.
LITTLER : Derived from the town, village, or hundred of Little Over, corrupted to Litter, in the county of Cheshire, England, where the family resided in the time of Edward I.
LOVEL : The original family name of Lovel was, in olden times, Percival, so called from a place in Normandy, until Asceline, its chief, who flourished in the early part of the twelfth century, acquired from his violent temper the soubriquet of Lupus (the Wolf). His son William, Earl of Yvery, was nicknamed Lupellus, the little wolf, which in after times was softened into Lupel, and at last to Luvel or LoveL
MALLET : This name has been ascribed by some to a place so termed in Normandy; and by others to the courageous blows of the family in battle. Malleus, Maule, Mall, and Mallet was one of the offensive weapons of a well-armed warrior, being generally made of iron, and used to destroy by pounding or bruising the enemy through or under the armor, that could not be penetrated by edged or pointed weapons, Edward I was called Malleus Scotorum. All the families of this name in England trace their descent from the renowned William Lord Mallet de Graville, one of the great barons who accompanied William the Conqueror.
MA LET : This name has been ascribed by some to a place so termed in Normandy; and by others to the courageous blows of the family in battle. Malleus, Maule, Mall, and Mallet was one of the offensive weapons of a well-armed warrior, being generally made of iron, and used to destroy by pounding or bruising the enemy through or under the armor, that could not be penetrated by edged or pointed weapons, Edward I was called Malleus Scotorum. All the families of this name in England trace their descent from the renowned William Lord Mallet de Graville, one of the great barons who accompanied William the Conqueror.
MANNERS : (Fr.) From Manoir, and that from the Latin Manere, to stay or to abide. Lands granted to some military man or baron by the king, a custom brought in by the Normans. Manners, first Earl of Rutland, soon after his creation, told Sir Thomas More that he was too much elated by his preferment, and really verified the old proverb, Honores mutant Mares. Nay, my lord, retorted Sir Thomas, the proverb does much better in English, 'Honors change Manners.' It is the opinion of Camden that this family received its name from the village of Manor, near Lanchester, in Durham, England.
McDONALD : This family was for many centuries reputed the most powerful of any in the Highlands of Scotland, being styled King of the Isles, for many generations, during which they were successful in asserting their independence. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, flourished about the year 1140, and was the ancestor of all the McDonalds. He married the daughter of Olans, Lord of the Western Isles, whereupon he assumed the title of King of the Isles. He was slain, in 1164, by Walter, Lord High Steward of Scotland. Donald, from whom the clan derived their name, was his grandson.
McDONELL : This family was for many centuries reputed the most powerful of any in the Highlands of Scotland, being styled King of the Isles, for many generations, during which they were successful in asserting their independence. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, flourished about the year 1140, and was the ancestor of all the McDonalds. He married the daughter of Olans, Lord of the Western Isles, whereupon he assumed the title of King of the Isles. He was slain, in 1164, by Walter, Lord High Steward of Scotland. Donald, from whom the clan derived their name, was his grandson.
McGREGOR : The descendants of Gregor, who was the son of Alpin, King of Scotland. A family of great antiquity, and of distinguished ancestors. (See Gregor.)
McLEAN : MacGillean. From a Highland chieftain of the name of Gillean, who was the progenitor of this family. This Gillean was a celebrated warrior, and was called Gillean-ni-Tuoidh, from his ordinary weapon, a battle-ax, which in the Gaelic is Twidh, which his descendants wear to this day in their crest, betwixt a laurel and a cypress branch. The posterity of this Gillean were therefore called Mac Gillean, in all ancient documents, and now of modern date McLeans. Magh Leamhna in the County of Antrim, the estate of the McLeans or Macklins.
MENZIES : Said to be originally Maynoers, Meyneri, then Menys afterward Meynes or Mengies, and now Menzies a branch of the family of Manners, in England, the name being originally the same. I think, rather, the name is derived from the parish of Mbnzie, in Perthshire, Scotland.
MEREDITH : This family is of British origin. Old chronicles relate that the first settlement of the family was situated on the Welsh shore, where the sea washed in with great impetuosity and noige, from whence it is added they took the name of Meredyth, or Ameredith. Maredydd, Welsh, the animated one.
MILDMAY : Said to be derived from the Saxon Mild, soft or tender, and dema, a judge, and was given to one of the early ancestors of the family from his tempering the severity of the law with mercy.
MONROE : Local. Monadh Roe or Mont Roe, from the mount on the river Roe, in Ireland, whence the family came. Moine Roe, a mossy place on the Roe; M'unroe, from, of, or about the Roe. The river is sometimes written Munree.
MURRAY : De Moravia. Some deduce this family from a warlike people called the Moravu, who came from Germany into Scotland, and affixed their own nomenclature to that district now called the shire of Moray. The root of the name is the same whether Moravian or Gaelic, and signifies the groat water, from mort great, and an or av, water.
MORAY : De Moravia. Some deduce this family from a warlike people called the Moravu, who came from Germany into Scotland, and affixed their own nomenclature to that district now called the shire of Moray. The root of the name is the same whether Moravian or Gaelic, and signifies the groat water, from mort great, and an or av, water.
O'DONNELL : The descendants of Donal, an ancient Irish family, who trace their descent through Donal to Nicdhis Magnus, the ancestor of the O'Neills, known as Nial Nia-gallach, Nial of the nine hostages. The O'Donnells ruled the territory of Tirconnell, for thirteen generations. (See Donald.)
PENNANT : (Cor. Br.) From Pen, a head, and nant, a vale, or dingle; the head of the dingle; the principal mansion of the family, Bychton, in Wales, being situated at the head of a considerable dingle on the old family estate.
PERCY : Local. The renowned family of Percy, of Northumberland, England, derived their name from Percy Forest, in the Province of Maen, Normandy, whence they came, which signifies a stony place, from pierre. It may signify a hunting place, from pirsen, Teutonic, to hunt; percer, French, to penetrate, to force one's way.
PIERCY : Local. The renowned family of Percy, of Northumberland, England, derived their name from Percy Forest, in the Province of Maen, Normandy, whence they came, which signifies a stony place, from pierre. It may signify a hunting place, from pirsen, Teutonic, to hunt; percer, French, to penetrate, to force one's way.
PERCEY : Local. The renowned family of Percy, of Northumberland, England, derived their name from Percy Forest, in the Province of Maen, Normandy, whence they came, which signifies a stony place, from pierre. It may signify a hunting place, from pirsen, Teutonic, to hunt; percer, French, to penetrate, to force one's way.
POLLEY : Local. From Poilley, in the province of Orleans, France, whence the family originally came.
RAMSEY : Local. From Ea, Saxon, water, or an isle, and Ram, Ram's Isle, a place in Huntingdonshire, England; where the family originated, and afterward settled in Scotland. Ramus, Latin, branches, young trees the isle of underbrush, branches, or young trees; a place where cattle browse. Reomasey, Saxon, from Reoma, the rim, edge, extremity, a border, and ey, an island.
SETON : Local. From lands of that name in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, which were so called because the town thereof was situated close upon the sea, and which gave name to the family of Seton, so renowned in Scottish annals.
SPENCER : (Nor. Fr.) Le Despenser, a steward. The ancestor of the family assumed the name Le Despenser (Latin, dispensator), from being steward to the household of William the Conqueror.
STEWART : Walter, the son of Fleance, and grand-son of Banquo, was created, by Malcom III. Lord High Steward of Scotland, from which office his family afterward took and retained the name of Stewart, and from them descended the royal family of Stuart.
STODDARD : Concerning the origin of this name there is a tradition, that the first of the family came over with William the Conqueror, as standard-bearer to Viscompte De Pulesdon, a noble Norman, and that the name is derived from the office of a standard-bearer, and was anciently written De La Standard, corrupted to Stodard or Stodart.
STOUGHTON : Local. This family derive its name from Stoche or Stoke, a place in Surrey, England, and tun, a word signifying an inclosure.
SURTEES : Local. From Sur-Tees, that is, on the river Tees or Tay, in the county of Durham, England, where the first of the family settled.
TICHBOURNE : Anciently At Itchen-bourne, that is, a person settled at the head of a fountain of the river Itchen. The river Itchen is in Southampton county, England. At the head of the river, near Alresford, the first ancestor of this family resided, long before the Conquest.
TUPPER : According to the celebrated poet by this name, Martin Farquhar Tupper, it is a corruption of part of the motto of the family, Tout perdie.
TURNOUR : There is a tradition that this family derive their name from their ancient place of settlement in Normandy, which being a black castle, was called Le tour noir, whence the lords thereof were called Les Sires de Tournoir, and by contraction Tournor. One of the family went with William the Conqueror into England. It is probably the same as Turner, a name of trade, the orthography being changed.
WOOD : A surname very ancient in Scotland, first called De Bosco. The family bore trees in their coat of arms.
More
