Orkney Family Names

There are many surnames that show the family almost certainly originated from Orkney. If your name is Baikie, Clouston, Corrigall, Flett, Foubister, Groundwater, Halcro, Hourston, Inkster, Isbister, Kirkness, Linklater, Louttit, Mainland, Marwick, Merriman, Moar, Moodie, Norquoy, Ritch, Sabiston, Seatter, Skea, Sutherland, Swanney, Twatt, Velzian, Waters or Yorston you are almost certain to have Orkney roots. Several other surnames have been common in Orkney for a very long time, although they also crop up elsewhere; Bews, Drever, Firth, Manson, Mowat, Rendall, Sclater, Sinclair, Spence and Thomson.

Gregor Lamb's book covers these and hundreds more, discussing the possible derivations and the earliest recording of the name.

The second half of the book is made up of essays on Orkney names: Family Names which have their Origin in Place-Names; Family Names which have their Origin in the Father’s First Name; Some puzzling Orkney family Names and several others.

This book is the product of many years of research and is full of interesting information and speculation.

Published 2003

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Clouston: William Clouston, in the service of the King of France, 1449; pronounced 'Clooston' from the tunship of Clouston in the parish of Stenness; the farm of Netherbigging in Stenness was in the possession of the Clouston family for at least fourteen generations until it was sold round about 1900; today Clouston is a common family name widely scattered throughout Orkney but absent from the South Isles; the family name Clouston is included in Elsdon Smith's New Dictionary of American Family Names since it falls into the category of 'common American family names'; it is also established in Canada; a folklore interpretation of this family name is that a baby was found abandoned on a doorstep; he had a clew (i.e. a ball of wool) and a stone beside him; the child was adopted and given the name 'Clew-stone'; Clouston is one of several Orkney surnames used in scientific classification; Dr Charles Clouston, a minister of Sanwick church for fifty-six years in the mid 19th century was an amateur scientist of note; the plant Laminasia cloustone bears his name and cloustonite, a black asphaltic mineral found in the flagstone beds of Orkney was named after him by the Orkney geologist M F Heddle.

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