URQUHART
Urquhart is a surname of Scottish origin which derives from the place-name Urquhart. The name is thought to mean “high fort” in Gaelic, indicating that the earliest bearers of the name were associated with a fortification situated on a hill or rise, most likely near the modern village of Urquhart on the shore of Loch Ness.
In the medieval period the Urquhart family were the hereditary sheriffs of Cromarty. The first documented bearer was William de Urchard in 1310, who served as High Sheriff of Cromarty during the reign of King Robert the Bruce. A number of early spellings appear in contemporary records, including Urcharde (1455), Vrquhat (1544) and Wrwhart (1662). These variations confirm that the name has been subject to orthographic change since the fifteenth century.
As a clan surname, Urquhart has a recognisable armorial achievement. The chief’s coat of arms, granted in the era of Robert the Bruce, is blazoned as a gold field charged with the heads of three red boars erased, the boars’ tusks blue. The boar motif is understood to signify ferocity and courage in the face of an enemy.
The Urquhart clan was historically situated in the Barony of Urquhart on Loch Ness in Invernesshire, a strategic position that placed them at the centre of Highland affairs. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries still saw notable members of the family in service to the nation, most famously Brigadier General Urquhart who commanded the Airborne Division in the Second World War battle of Arnhem in 1944.
Through the ages the surname has spread beyond mainland Scotland. In Ireland it is recorded at Castle Pollard in County Westmeath, where the name appears as an anglicised form of the Gaelic Mac Ualraig. The Irish cognates Mac Walrige and Mac Ylrige are considered further variants. The name can also be found in England, particularly in the Lowlands, and it has reached the wider diaspora in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand as members of the original Scottish clans emigrated.
In modern usage the name Urquhart remains closely associated with Scotland and with people of Scottish descent worldwide. Its usage continues to serve as a marker of heritage, linking contemporary bearers to a lineage that dates back to the early Middle Ages.
Typical given names associated with the Urquhart surname
Male
- Alan
- Alexander
- Andrew
- David
- Donald
- Ian
- James
- John
- Robert
- William
Female
- Alison
- Anne
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jane
- Jennifer
- Linda
- Margaret
- Mary
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Urquhart in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 6,219 people named Urquhart in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,524th most common surname in Britain. Around 95 in a million people in Britain are named Urquhart.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Scotland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
Famous people named Urquhart
- Brian Urquhart - Former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations
- Robert Urquhart - Scottish actor (1921 to 1995)
- Alistair Urquhart - Scottish writer (1919 to 2016)
- David Urquhart - Bishop of Birmingham; Bishop of Birkenhead
- Jean Urquhart - Scottish politician
- Alasdair Urquhart - Mathematician and philosopher
- David Urquhart - Politician (1805 to 1877)
- George Urquhart - Scottish football player
- Lawrence Urquhart - Businessman
- Johnny Urquhart - Scottish football player (1925 to 2008)
- Frederic Urquhart - Australian politician (1858 to 1935)
- Billy Urquhart - Scottish football player
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.