Erskine (surname)

Last updated
Erskine
River Clyde from Erskine Bridge.jpg
The River Clyde seen from Erskine Bridge, 2007.
Origin
Region of origin Scotland
Other names
Variant form(s)Arascain

Erskine is a Scottish surname. The name is derived from a habitational name from a location (Erskine) on the southern bank of the River Clyde, near Glasgow. This place was first recorded in 1225 as Erskin. Early spellings of the place include: Yrskin (1227); Ireskin (1262); Harskin (1300), and Irschen (1300). [1] The Scottish Gaelic form of the surname is Arascain. [2] Legend dictates that the name was given by King Malcolm II to a man who killed the Danish General Enrique at the Battle of Murthill. He is said to have shown the bloody knife to king and said eris-skyne (air a' scèin), meaning "upon the knife". The King, in honour of his valour, granted him the surname Eriskine. [3]

Contents

List of people with the surname

See also

Related Research Articles

James, Jim, or Jimmy Murray may refer to:

Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name Dòmhnall. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *Dumno-ualos. The final -d in Donald is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the Gaelic pronunciation by English speakers, and partly associated with the spelling of similar-sounding Germanic names, such as Ronald. A short form of Donald is Don. Pet forms of Donald include Donnie and Donny. The feminine given name Donella is derived from Donald.

Carr is a common surname in northern England, a variant of Kerr, meaning "brushwood wet ground" in Middle English. The Old Norse kjarr means a "brushwood, thicket or copse" and may also come from the ancient Norse Kjarr translation meaning Kaiser from Caesar Kerr is also a Scottish variant, often from the Norse and from the Gaelic ciar, meaning "dusky". Carr is also a common surname in Ireland, where it often derives from the nickname, gearr, meaning "short of height". In some cases it is thought to come from the Welsh word cawr, meaning giant. Alternatively, in Ireland and Scotland, it may derive from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic cearr meaning pointed spear.

Moran is a modern Irish surname derived from membership of a medieval dynastic sept. The name means a descendant of Mórán. “Mor” in Gaelic translates as big or great and “an” as the prefix the. Morans were a respected sept of the Uí Fiachrach dynasty in the western counties of Mayo and Sligo. In Ireland, where the name descended from the Gaelic, it is generally pronounced MORR-ən anglicised approximate of the Irish pronunciation.

Doherty is an Irish surname. It is anglicized from the Gaelic Ó Dochartaigh. Notable people and characters with the surname include:

The surname Duff has several origins. In some cases, it is an Anglicised form of the Gaelic Ó Duibh, Mac Giolla Duibh, Mac Duibh. The surname Duff is also sometimes a short form of Duffin, and MacElduff, and Duffy.

Curry is a common surname used in Ireland, Scotland and England. Currey is a less common variant. In England and Scotland, is it thought to derive from local place names and, in Scotland, also possibly from MacMhuirrich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McAllister (surname)</span> Surname list

McAllister is a surname from Scotland and Ireland that originates from the Gaelic name Mac Alasdair, meaning son of Alasdair. Alasdair is the Gaelic form of the first name Alexander.

Cameron is a Scottish surname and thus somewhat common throughout the English-speaking world.

Scott is a surname of Scottish origin. It is first attributed to Uchtredus filius Scoti who is mentioned in the charter recording the foundation of Holyrood Abbey and Selkirk in 1120, the border Riding clans who settled Peeblesshire in the 10th century and the family lineage of the Duke of Buccleuch.

Colin is an English-language masculine given name. It has two distinct origins:

  1. A diminutive form of "Colle", itself an Old French short form of the name Nicolas (Nicholas). This name, but not the anglicized Gaelic name, is also found in the spelling Collin. This name is formed by the Old French diminutive -in also found in Robin.
  2. An anglicisation of the Irish given name Coileán or the Scottish Gaelic name Cailean, which both come from the Old Irish word cuilén "pup, cub". The Scottish Gaelic name is recorded in the spelling Colin from as early as the 14th century. MacCailean was a patronymic used by Clan Campbell, after Cailean Mór.

Godfrey is a given name and an English surname. The given name is derived from the Old French Godefroy, a name composed of the elements: the first being either God ("God") or gōd ("good"); the second being fred ("peace"). The name was brought to England by settlers from Normandy, the Low Countries, and France. The name is rendered Goraidh, Goiridh in Scottish Gaelic. In some cases the surname is derived from the Middle English personal name Godfrey, Godefrey; or the Old French Godefrei, Godefroi, Godefrois; or the Continental Germanic Godefrid. In other cases, the surname is derived from the Irish Mac Gothraidh or Ó Gothraidh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas (given name)</span> Name list

Douglas is a masculine given name which originated from the surname Douglas. Although today the name is almost exclusively given to boys, it was used as a girl's name in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the north of England. The Scottish surname Douglas was borne by one of the most powerful families of the Kingdom of Scotland. It has sometimes been stated that the given name is connected with the given name Dougal, although it is more likely derived from the surname already mentioned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fitzsimons</span> Surname list

Fitzsimons is a surname of Norman origin common in both Ireland and England. The name is a variant of "Sigmundsson", meaning son of Sigmund. The Gaelicisation of this surname is Mac Síomóin or Mac an Ridire.

Mackenzie, MacKenzie and McKenzie are alternative spellings of a Scottish surname relating to Clan Mackenzie. It was originally written MacKenȝie and pronounced in Scots, with the "z" representing the old Middle Scots letter, "ȝ" yogh. This is an anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic MacCoinnich, which is a patronymic form of the personal name Coinneach, anglicized as Kenneth. The personal name means "handsome".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall (given name)</span> Name list

Randall is a masculine given name in English, Irish and German. Its modern use as a given name originates from the transferred use of the English–language surname Randall, which in turn is derived from Randolph.

Cullen is an Irish surname. It is an Anglicised form of Gaelic Ó Cuileáin 'descendant of Cuileán', a name meaning 'wolfhound whelp', 'young hound'. It is also considered by some to mean the 'handsome one'. The Uí Cuileáin of County Tyrone were erenaghs of Clogher. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Cullanes were one of the chiefly families of the Uí Fidgenti who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.

Knox is a Scottish surname that originates from the Scottish Gaelic "cnoc", meaning a hillock or a hump or the Old English "cnocc", meaning a round-topped hill.

Cowan is a surname of both Scottish-Irish and English origins.

Curran is an Irish surname.

References

  1. Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com , retrieved 25 September 2010 which cited Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-508137-4. for the surname "Erskine".
  2. Macfarlane, Malcolm (1912), The School Gaelic Dictionary prepared for the use of learners of the Gaelic language, Stirling: Eneas Mackay, p. 149
  3. Arthur, William (1857). An etymological dictionary of family and Christian names. Sheldon, Blakeman & Co. p.  125.