Language & meaning
Meaning & Irish forms
Scottish Scottish and English: a descriptive name for a Scot that became hereditary on the Anglo-Scottish border in the 12th century and reached Ireland in numbers with the Plantation of Ulster.[1][2]
Pronunciation
Scott: SKOT
Place
Where the Scotts lived
How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.
Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.
Highest concentration · 1901
Down
57 per 10,000
1,657 Scotts · 3.29× the national share
Highest share, 1901
Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.
Highest concentration · 1911
Down
54 per 10,000
1,650 Scotts · 3.09× the national share
Highest share, 1911
Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.
County figures as a table
| County | 1901 | 1911 | 1926 | Per 10k 1901 | Per 10k 1911 | Per 10k 1926 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim | 1,903 | 2,008 | — | 42 | 42 | — |
| Armagh | 214 | 198 | — | 17 | 17 | — |
| Carlow | 42 | 34 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 5 |
| Cavan | 111 | 90 | 103 | 11 | 10 | 13 |
| Clare | 44 | 41 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Cork | 133 | 138 | 151 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Donegal | 527 | 473 | 357 | 30 | 28 | 23 |
| Down | 1,657 | 1,650 | — | 57 | 54 | — |
| Dublin | 570 | 601 | 621 | 13 | 13 | 12 |
| Fermanagh | 149 | 136 | — | 23 | 22 | — |
| Galway | 105 | 86 | 57 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Kerry | 48 | 46 | 53 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Kildare | 26 | 28 | 30 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Kilkenny | 27 | 30 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Laois | 50 | 48 | 54 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| Leitrim | 22 | 15 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Limerick | 41 | 34 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Londonderry | 522 | 538 | — | 36 | 39 | — |
| Longford | 28 | 31 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
| Louth | 17 | 16 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Mayo | 159 | 188 | 155 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| Meath | 19 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Monaghan | 136 | 125 | 108 | 18 | 18 | 17 |
| Offaly | 29 | 25 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Roscommon | 111 | 113 | 108 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| Sligo | 165 | 181 | 151 | 21 | 23 | 21 |
| Tipperary | 131 | 106 | 103 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Tyrone | 517 | 470 | — | 34 | 33 | — |
| Waterford | 17 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Westmeath | 75 | 64 | 47 | 12 | 11 | 8 |
| Wexford | 53 | 48 | 39 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Wicklow | 52 | 67 | 52 | 9 | 11 | 9 |
Local strongholds in 1911
District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Scotts made up the largest share of the population. In Templeboy South, Co. Sligo, about one resident in 15 was a Scott.
| DED | County | Scotts | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Templeboy South | Sligo | 33 | 6.7% |
| Ballyronan | Londonderry | 61 | 5.6% |
| Ballyrobin | Antrim | 37 | 5.0% |
| Kellysgrove | Galway | 20 | 4.8% |
| Ogulla | Roscommon | 15 | 4.7% |
| Clare | Tyrone | 31 | 4.6% |
| Annahilt | Down | 46 | 3.7% |
| Kilmacrenan | Donegal | 28 | 3.5% |
Origins
Septs & territories
Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Scott lineages described in the sources.
A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.
Scotts of Buccleuch (Clan Scott)
the Scottish Borders: Ettrick Forest, Rankilburn, Buccleuch and Branxholme
The leading Scott family, recognised as a clan by the Lord Lyon. Sir Richard Scott acquired Murthockstone by marriage and became ranger of Ettrick Forest, building his residence at Buccleuch. His descendants became one of the most powerful riding clans of the Borders and later Earls and Dukes of Buccleuch, whose head is still chief of the clan.[4][5]
Scotts of Scottsborough, Co. Tipperary (Earls of Clonmell)
Scottsborough and Lisson-Earl, near Clonmel · Tipperary
An Irish landed family of the name. John Scott, son of Thomas Scott of Scottsborough, rose at the bar to become Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland in 1784. He was created Baron Earlsfort that year, Viscount Clonmell in 1789 and Earl of Clonmell in 1793, titles that passed to his son and later heirs.[6][7]
The name over time
History
'The Scot'
Scott began as a description, 'the Scot', for a man from Scotland. The Latin word Scotti was first used for the Gaels of Ireland, but the surname has no proven link with them: Wikipedia says that in the Middle Ages it was associated with the kingdom of Scotland rather than with Irish settlers in Dál Riata. The earliest certain record is a man called Uchtred filius Scoti, named around 1120 in charters for Holyrood Abbey and Selkirk. By the 14th century the name was also established in Kent.[1][2][4]
A Border clan
The great Scott family grew up in the Scottish Borders. Its lairds took their style from Buccleuch, in Ettrick Forest, and in 1420 acquired Branxholme, which the family still owns. The Scotts became one of the most powerful riding clans of the Border reivers, feuding with neighbours such as the Kerrs and Elliots; Walter Scott of Buccleuch, 'Bold Buccleuch', famously rescued Kinmont Willie Armstrong from Carlisle in 1596. The family became Earls of Buccleuch in 1619 and Dukes in 1663.[4][8][5]
Coming to Ireland
Woulfe describes Scott as an old surname in Ireland that was nonetheless rare until the Plantation of Ulster; Wikipedia, more cautiously, says it is first recorded as an Irish surname in the 17th century. The plantation, which began officially in 1609, settled English-speaking Protestants, most of them from Lowland Scotland and northern England, on confiscated land, and one of its stated aims was to move troublesome Border families to Ireland. Wikipedia notes that Borderers banished by James VI took part in it and that their descendants are found throughout Ulster, which helps explain how the name took root in the north.[1][2][9][8][10]
Scotts in Irish life
Scotts appear in Irish records soon after the plantation. Burke notes funeral entries for a William Scott, searcher of the port of Dublin, in 1635, and for another William Scott, high sheriff of Queen's County, in 1661. In Tipperary, John Scott of Scottsborough became Lord Chief Justice and Earl of Clonmell. The name also travelled with Ulster emigrants: Thomas Scott, a Presbyterian Orangeman from the Clandeboye area of Co. Down, went to Canada in 1863 and was executed during the Red River Rebellion in 1870, after which he was hailed as a martyr by Protestant opinion in Ontario.[11][6][12]
Everyday lives
The Scotts in the census
Who the Scotts were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.
Scotts All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Scott bar
Religion, 1911
Irish language
94 Scotts spoke Irish only in 1901.
Reading & writing
Family life, 1911
Commonest occupations
Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.
| Farmer | 1,118 |
| Farmer's son | 433 |
| Farmer's daughter | 232 |
| Seamstress | 195 |
| General labourer | 191 |
| Labourer | 148 |
| House keeper | 144 |
| Farm servant | 128 |
| Farm labourer | 113 |
| Agricultural labourer | 107 |
Born outside Ireland
7.7% of Scotts in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.
| England | 368 |
| Scotland | 172 |
| United States | 27 |
| India | 9 |
| Wales | 4 |
| Canada | 3 |
Median age: 24 in 1901, 26 in 1911.
Given names
First names among the Scotts
Men and boys
- John941
- James849
- William757
- Thomas481
- Robert424
- Samuel261
- Joseph255
- George252
- Alexander203
- Patrick183
Women and girls
- Mary763
- Margaret421
- Elizabeth372
- Annie368
- Sarah356
- Jane321
- Maggie224
- Lizzie208
- Ellen203
- Catherine171
All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, James, William, Thomas, Patrick; Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Annie, Bridget.
Spellings
Spellings
This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.
| Spelling | 1901 | 1911 | 1926 | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott | 7,700 | 7,668 | 2,365 | Search |
Related forms
Diaspora
The Scotts abroad
Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:
| Spelling | People | US rank |
|---|---|---|
| Scott | 439,530 | 36th |
Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).
Heraldry
Is there a Scott coat of arms?
There is no single Scott coat of arms. Burke lists a great many separate Scott coats, belonging to different families in Scotland, England and Ireland. For the Earls of Clonmell he records a blue band with a star between two crescents on gold, a buck as crest and the motto 'Fear to transgress'.[11]
Websites selling a single “Scott family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.
People
Notable people named Scott
- John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell (1739–1798) Tipperary barrister and judge, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland from 1784.
- Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish novelist and poet of the Waverley novels, who collected Border ballads in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
- Thomas Scott (1842–1870) Co. Down Orangeman executed during the Red River Rebellion in 1870 and hailed as a martyr in Ontario.
- Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912) British naval officer who led two Antarctic expeditions and died returning from the South Pole.
- Elisha Scott (1893–1959) Northern Irish goalkeeper, still Liverpool's longest-serving player.
- Michael Scott (1905–1989) Drogheda-born architect of Busáras in Dublin and the Abbey Theatre.
- William Scott (1913–1989) Abstract painter raised in Enniskillen, the most internationally celebrated Ulster painter of his century.
- Patrick Scott (1921–2014) Cork-born abstract artist who worked for fifteen years in Michael Scott's architectural practice.
- Andrew Scott (born 1976) Dublin-born actor, Moriarty in Sherlock, winner of Olivier and BAFTA awards.
Questions
Questions about the Scott name
Is Scott an Irish surname?
Scott is long established in Ireland, but it is not Gaelic in origin. It means 'the Scot' and came from Scotland and the Anglo-Scottish border. Woulfe says it was known in Ireland from an early date but stayed rare until the Plantation of Ulster brought large numbers of Scottish settlers in the 17th century.[1][2][9]
Is Scott Irish or Scottish?
Scottish in origin. The surname took shape on the Anglo-Scottish border, where the Scotts of Buccleuch were one of the strongest clans. Most Irish Scotts descend from settlers who came over during or after the Plantation of Ulster, which deliberately drew in families from the Borders, though some Scotts were in Ireland earlier.[2][4][1][8]
What is Scott in Irish?
Scott has no Gaelic original of its own. Woulfe gives Albanach, 'the Scot', as the corresponding Irish surname, and notes that Albanach was itself sometimes put into English as Scott. In Ireland the word was applied to Scottish galloglass soldiers, especially the MacDonnells, who came over between the 14th and 16th centuries.[1][3]
Where does the Scott name come from?
From the Anglo-Scottish border, where it became a hereditary surname in the 12th century. The earliest certain bearer is Uchtred filius Scoti, recorded around 1120. The leading family were the Scotts of Buccleuch in Ettrick Forest, ancestors of the Dukes of Buccleuch.[2][4]
Is there a Scott family crest or clan motto?
Not one for everyone named Scott. Clan Scott is a recognised Scottish clan whose chief is the Duke of Buccleuch, but arms belong to individuals and families. Burke lists many different Scott coats; the Irish Earls of Clonmell, for example, bore a buck as crest and the motto 'Fear to transgress'.[4][11]
Where in Ireland is the Scott surname most common?
In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Scotts lived in Antrim (2,008), Down (1,650), Dublin (601). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Down (54 per 10,000), Antrim (42 per 10,000), Londonderry (39 per 10,000).
How common was the Scott surname in Ireland?
7,668 people were recorded as Scott in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 86th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 571.
Looking for a Scott ancestor?
Search every Scott household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.
Evidence
Sources
- Patrick Woulfe, Scot, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
- Wikipedia, Scott (surname) (2026)
- Patrick Woulfe, Albanach, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
- Wikipedia, Clan Scott (2026)
- Wikipedia, Duke of Buccleuch (2026)
- Wikipedia, John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell (2026)
- Wikipedia, Earl of Clonmell (2026)
- Wikipedia, Border reivers (2026)
- Wikipedia, Plantation of Ulster (2026)
- Wikipedia, Ulster Scots people (2026)
- Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). The 'Scott' entries, including 'Scott (Earl of Clonmell)' and the funeral entries for William Scott of Dublin (1635) and William Scott of Queen's County (1661).
- Wikipedia, Thomas Scott (Orangeman) (2026)
- Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.
How we compile these figures: methodology.