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100 Most Common Scottish Surnames
Meanings, Origins, Links, and Suggestions for Searching
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Anderson, Campbell, MacDonald, Scott, Smith, Stewart... Are you one of the millions of people sporting one of these top 100 common Scottish last names? If so, then you'll want to check out our list of the most commonly occurring surnames in Scotland*, including details on each name's origin, meaning, and alternate spellings. Plus, links to genealogy resources and family trees for each Scottish surname, and search techniques for correctly identifying ancestors with common last names.
 

Rank Name Occurrence
 1  Smith  2273
 2  Brown  1659
 3  Wilson  1539
 4  Thomson  1373
 5  Robertson  1370
 6  Campbell  1361
 7  Stewart  1278
 8  Anderson  1187
 9  MacDonald  980
 10  Scott  963
 11  Reid  936
 12  Murray  914
 13  Taylor  877
 14  Clark  826
 15  Mitchell  760
 16  Ross  746
 17  Walker  730
 18  Paterson  708
 19  Young  698
 20  Watson  696
 21  Morrison  680
 22  Miller  659
 23  Fraser  651
 24  Davidson  639
 25  Gray  632
 26  McDonald  632
 27  Henderson  629
 28  Johnston  617
 29  Hamilton  614
 30  Graham  613
 31  Kerr  593
 32  Simpson  591
 33  Martin  590
 34  Ferguson  584
 35  Cameron  578
 36  Duncan  558
 37  Hunter  556
 38  Kelly  550
 39  Bell  547
 40  Grant  539
 41  MacKenzie  496
 42  MacKay  488
 43  Allan  485
 44  Black  484
 45  MacLeod  483
 46  McLean  477
 47  Russell  466
 48  Gibson  456
 49  Wallace  443
 50  Gordon  435
 51  Marshall  419
 52  Stevenson  414
 53  Wood  403
 54  Sutherland  396
 55  Craig  394
 56  Wright  391
 57  McKenzie  373
 58  Kennedy  372
 59  Jones  371
 60  Burns  367
 61  White  367
 62  Muir  362
 63  Murphy  360
 64  Johnstone  358
 65  Hughes  355
 66  Watt  354
 67  McMillan  352
 68  Mcintosh  350
 69  Milne  348
 70  Munro  345
 71  Ritchie  339
 72  Dickson  333
 73  Bruce  332
 74  King  329
 75  Crawford  324
 76  Docherty  322
 77  Millar  321
 78  Cunningham  316
 79  Sinclair  309
 80  Williamson  300
 81  Hill  299
 82  McGregor  297
 83  McKay  293
 84  Boyle  290
 85  Shaw  290
 86  Fleming  288
 87  Moore  286
 88  Christie  282
 89  Douglas  282
 90  Donaldson  281
 91  Anderson  276
 92  MacLean  273
 93  Forbes  266
 94  Mcintyre  256
 95  Findlay  255
 96  Jamieson  255
 97  Aitken  254
 98  Reilly  248
 99  Thompson  248
 100  Hay  244

* Scottish surnames occurring most often on the birth, death, and marriage registers in Scotland in 1995.
 

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