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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.



URL: http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa_scottish_surnames.htm
© 2003 Kimberly Powell. Licensed to About.com.

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