William L. Kirk, Jr., Ph.D. 1 July 1992 The whole subject of
Scottish surnames, and their connection with kinship, is
surrounded by complications. Professional etymologists have
attempted to classify how Scottish names came about. And,
whereas the work is largely successful, the many exceptions and
the metamorphosis of names make the study of Scottish names an
unfinished one. The use of surnames seems to have commenced in
France about the year 1000, and surnames were introduced into
Scotland through the Normans a little over one hundred years
later, although the custom of using them was hardly common. The
first official reference to the practice is from a general
council held at Forfar in 1061, during the reign of Malcolm
Ceannmor (1057- 1093). Malcolm directed his chief subjects to
create surnames from the names of their territorial possessions.
Thus, the first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames
were the nobles and great landowners, who called themselves, or
were called by others, after the lands t