Scottish surnames
There are thousands of Scottish surnames, many of which are Gaelic or Scots in origin, while others derive from Norse, Norman, Flemish and other origins.
To find out more about your Scottish surname, please use the search boxes below.
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The history of Scottish surnames
The earliest recorded use of permanent surnames in Scotland began in the 12th century during the reign of David I with the arrival of Anglo-Norman knights.
One of the most famous examples is “de Brus” or “de Bruis”, now more familiar as Bruce, which derived from the ancestral lands of what is now known as Brix in Normandy.
Scottish surnames can generally be divided into several categories:
Patronymic
(derived from the forename of a person’s father)
Territorial
(named after lands a person owned or was associated with)
Occupational
(derived from the occupation or trade of a person)
Nicknames
(names based on, for example, the physical characteristics of a person)
