Ulster Scots surnames are the family names Lowland and Border Scots took to the nine counties of Ulster in the 1600s, and the best known are Hamilton, Montgomery, Stewart, Cunningham, Campbell, Crawford, Armstrong and Johnston. A muster roll of about 1630 names 13,147 men across the nine counties, most of them English and Scottish settlers, according to the Ulster Historical Foundation. Where a name settled depended on which Scottish landlord got which bit of Ulster, so below we take it county by county.
This guide is part of our Scottish Names collection. Browse the full Scottish names directory, follow the same families on to America in our Scots-Irish surnames guide, or see where the riding families started in the Border reiver surnames guide.
This is for anyone with roots in Antrim, Down, Derry or Donegal who wants to know whether their surname came over from Scotland, and roughly where it landed. You get a checker for 63 surnames, a county-by-county guide to the Plantation landlords, the names that turn up again and again in the 1630 muster roll, and a few honest warnings about names that look Scottish but are not.
A wee bit of context first. Ulster Scots is what the descendants are called in Scotland and Ireland; Americans say Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish for the same people once they crossed the Atlantic. The Scots arrived in two waves of planting. Private schemes in Antrim and Down started in 1606, and the official Plantation of six confiscated counties began in 1609. Landlords had to bring tenants, and they brought them from home, which is why a surname often tells you which part of Scotland your family left.
Two Scots Abroad · Scottish names
Ulster Scots surname checker
63 surnames the Plantation carried from Scotland to Ulster, county by county. Type your surname, then filter by Ulster county, by where in Scotland it came from, or by the kind of name it is. Gold cards had eight or more men in the 1630 Donegal muster roll.
Nothing matches that. Clear a filter or try a shorter search.
How many Scots went to Ulster?
More than you might think, and over a longer stretch than the Plantation alone. The figures below come from the history of the Plantation of Ulster and the Ulster Historical Foundation.
| Year | What was counted | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| 1606 to 1607 | Private settlement of north Down (Hamilton and Montgomery) and Antrim (MacDonnell) | 300 Scots families on MacDonnell’s Antrim land in 1607 |
| 1609 | Official Plantation of Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone | About half a million acres of farmland |
| 1622 | Adult British males on Plantation land | 6,402, of whom 3,700 were Scottish |
| 1622 | Scottish adult males in unplanted Antrim and Down | Another 4,000 |
| c. 1630 | Men named in the Ulster muster roll, nine counties | 13,147 |
| 1630s | Adult male British settlers in Ulster | About 20,000 |
| 1690 to 1710 | Scots arriving after the 1690s famine | Up to 50,000 |
By 1720, Scottish Presbyterians were an absolute majority in Ulster. That last wave matters for surname hunting: if your family turns up in Ulster after 1690, it may have come over a century after the Plantation families, and from the Borders rather than Ayrshire.
What the 1630 muster roll shows
Muster rolls listed the men each landlord could call up to fight, with their weapons. The roll for County Donegal survives in a full transcription, and by our count it names about 1,200 men. Campbell, in 22 entries, is the commonest name in it, a Highland clan name beating every Lowland one. These are the surnames with the most men:
| Surname (1630 spelling) | Men in the Donegal roll | Scottish home |
|---|---|---|
| Campbell (Cambell) | 22 | Argyll |
| Brown (Browne) | 19 | Across Scotland and England |
| Cunningham (Conningham) | 18 | North Ayrshire |
| Stewart (Steward) | 17 | Across the Lowlands |
| McKee (Makee) | 14 | Scotland and Ireland |
| Crawford (Crafford) | 12 | Lanarkshire and Ayrshire |
| Scott (Scot) | 12 | The Borders |
| McFarlane (mcffarlan) | 11 | Loch Lomond |
| Young | 10 | Across Scotland |
| Porter | 10 | Scotland and England |
The roll also shows how landlords recruited at home. The Duke of Lennox’s 161 men in Raphoe barony include seven McFarlanes, five Buchanans, three Galbraiths and at least five Dennistons: Loch Lomond and Lennox names, the duke’s own country. Over in Boylagh and Banagh, the Earl of Annandale’s men include Scotts, Creightons, Dunbars and Elliotts, mostly Border and Lothian names. A 1630 surname often points straight at the laird (landowner) the man followed.
Londonderry was different. The London livery companies held most of it, and their estates mixed English and Scots. The Ironmongers’ estate roll has 122 men, among them nine called Spire or Spyre, four Reeds, a Montgomery and a McKee, while the Mercers’ estate is mostly English names like Church, Avery and Hitchins, with a couple of Grahams and a Gordon.
How Ulster Scots surnames work
There is nothing special in the spelling of an Ulster Scots name. It is an ordinary Scottish surname that made the short crossing, so the useful question is where in Scotland it came from. The Ulster-Scots Agency says most ordinary settlers came from Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Lanarkshire, with a second stream from the Borders.
| Where in Scotland | Typical surnames | Where they show up in Ulster |
|---|---|---|
| Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire | Hamilton, Montgomery, Cunningham, Crawford, Boyd, Dunlop | North Down, the Ards, east Donegal (Raphoe barony) |
| Galloway and Kirkcudbright | Adair, Agnew, McClelland, Kennedy | Antrim, Londonderry, west Donegal |
| Lennox and Stirlingshire | Buchanan, McFarlane, Galbraith, Colquhoun, Denniston, Edmonstone | Raphoe barony in Donegal; Ballycarry in Antrim |
| The Borders and Dumfriesshire | Armstrong, Elliott, Johnston, Graham, Scott, Hume, Beattie | Fermanagh, west Donegal, and later waves across Ulster |
| Lothians and Fife | Balfour, Creighton, Dunbar, Leslie, Acheson | Fermanagh, Armagh, the bishop’s lands at Raphoe |
| Highlands and Islands | MacDonnell, Campbell, Gilmore | North Antrim, Donegal |
Three reading tips for old records. First, 1630 clerks spelled by ear: Cunningham is Conningham, Campbell is Cambell, Crawford is Crafford, McKee is Makee, and a doubled ff at the start (ffleming, ffulton) is just a capital F. Second, Mc and Mac are the same thing; Ulster clerks simply liked Mc. Third, the Ulster Scots people were never only Scots. Settlers from Cumbria, Northumberland and other northern English counties came too, so a Graham or an Armstrong may have crossed from the English side of the Border.
Ulster Scots surnames by county
Here is where the Scottish landlords and their tenants settled. The Ulster Historical Foundation’s Scots in Ulster map counts 59 Scottish landowners, called undertakers, who received Plantation land, and many of them sold up early. Antrim and Down came first, outside the official scheme.
County Antrim
North Antrim was MacDonnell country. Sir Randal MacDonnell, a Catholic Highlander, still filled his 333,000-acre estate with Lowland Protestant farmers, and around 1608 he built a planned town beside Dunluce Castle. Further south, James Shaw built Ballygally Castle in 1625 on land he rented from MacDonnell for 24 pounds a year, and William Edmonstone settled Ballycarry in 1609, bringing Edward Brice from Stirlingshire to be Ireland’s first Presbyterian minister. Ballymena went to William Adair, a laird from Kinhilt in Galloway, confirmed in 1626.
Names to look for: MacDonnell, Shaw, Edmonstone, Adair, Agnew, Miller, Orr, Morrow.
County Down
The Ards and north Down are where the whole story starts. In 1605 Hugh Montgomery was granted Newtownards, and settlers came over in large numbers, particularly from Ayr and to a lesser extent Irvine, according to the history of Newtownards. James Hamilton took Bangor and later moved to Killyleagh Castle, around 1625. Donaghadee, later the packet-boat port for Portpatrick, grew into a town after Hugh Montgomery settled Scots there. The Ulster-Scots Agency names Robert Blair of Bangor and John Livingstone of Killinchy among the Scottish ministers forced out of the Church of Ireland in the 1630s.
Names to look for: Hamilton, Montgomery, Colville, Blair, Livingstone, Boyd, Orr, Trimble.
County Londonderry
The county was handed to the London companies, who built the city of Londonderry, so expect more English names here than anywhere else. Scots still came. Sir Robert McClelland of Bombie, from Kirkcudbright, leased two estates and brought over more than 200 settlers, and the Conyngham family of Springhill near Moneymore came from Ayrshire about 1609.
Names to look for: McClelland, Cunningham (Conyngham), Spier, Reid, Murray, Armstrong, Graham, Gordon.
County Tyrone
Tyrone was Hamilton country in the west. In 1610 Sir George Hamilton of Greenlaw and two of his older brothers, the Earl of Abercorn and Sir Claud Hamilton, got land in Strabane barony, and Sir George proved an energetic planter. His estate manager, Robert Algeo, came from Paisley and, like Sir George, was a Catholic. Further east, Sir William Stewart acquired Newtownstewart castle by marriage in 1629. Orr has its earliest Irish record in Tyrone, in 1655.
Names to look for: Hamilton, Algeo, Stewart, Orr, Trimble, Beattie.
County Donegal
Raphoe barony in east Donegal had more Scottish estates than anywhere else in the county. The 1630 roll shows the Duke of Lennox and Sir John Cunningham with 4,000 acres each in Raphoe barony, plus smaller Stewart and Cunningham estates; Manorcunningham and Newtowncunningham take their names from John Cunningham of Kilbirnie in Ayrshire. The church brought its own names. Andrew Knox, Bishop of Raphoe, moved into the old Rathmullan friary in 1617, and his successor John Leslie built the bishop’s palace at Raphoe in 1637. West Donegal went to the Earl of Annandale, whose men carried Border names.
Names to look for: Cunningham, Stewart, Campbell, Crawford, Buchanan, McFarlane, Galbraith, Colquhoun, Denniston, Knox, Leslie, Kirkpatrick, Scott, Creighton.
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh is the county of lough-side planter castles. Sir John Hume, a Scottish planter, had Tully Castle built, Malcolm Hamilton, a minister, built Monea Castle, and Michael Balfour, Lord Balfour of Burleigh from Fife, was granted Castle-skeagh before selling to his brother James in 1615. Castle Balfour’s ruin still sits off the main street in Lisnaskea. Many members of the Armstrong clan got land in Fermanagh and the counties around it. The Crichton family, Earls of Erne, still own Crom.
Names to look for: Hume, Hamilton, Balfour, Armstrong, Creighton, Lowry, Trimble, Beattie.
County Armagh
The Acheson family founded the village that became Markethill, and John Hamilton of East Lothian built the fortified house that gave Hamiltonsbawn its name in 1619; it was destroyed in the 1641 rising. The Conynghams of Springhill held land here too. Armagh is also where Morrow gets three spellings in the records: Morrow, Morragh and Murrow.
Names to look for: Acheson, Hamilton, Cunningham, Lowry, Morrow, Gilmore.
County Cavan
Two Scottish names dominate the Cavan story. William Bailie, a Scottish planter, built himself a manor house by 1613, and by 1626 the place was called Bailieborough. In July 1610 Sir Alexander Hamilton of Innerwick in East Lothian was granted land around Killeshandra, and the Hamiltons held it until the 1641 rising, when the O’Reilly army forced them out for a time.
Names to look for: Bailie, Hamilton.
County Monaghan
Monaghan was never part of the official Plantation. It was colonised privately, and after the local lords’ defeat some Scottish and English families moved in. The best-known Scottish name is Leslie: a 17th-century Leslie mansion stood at Glaslough, where Castle Leslie is now. Honestly, Monaghan is the county where you will need parish records rather than a landlord list.
Names to look for: Leslie, plus the general Ulster Scots names below.
The Ulster Scots surnames worth knowing
These have the best-documented Ulster stories; the checker has all 63.
Hamilton
Meaning: from Walter fitz Gilbert of Hameldone (Hambledon); meaning not settled. Scottish home: Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire. Ulster: Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan, Fermanagh, Donegal. Donegal 1630: 6 men. Scotland 2025: rank 29.
Hamilton is the name of the Plantation. Within 15 years Hamiltons held land in Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan and Fermanagh, from James Hamilton at Bangor to Malcolm Hamilton at Monea. The chiefs descend from Walter fitz Gilbert, recorded in 1296 as “of Hameldone”, whose lands later included Cadzow, the town of Hamilton in Lanarkshire.
Montgomery
Meaning: from Montgommery in Normandy. Scottish home: Ayrshire. Ulster: Down, Donegal. Donegal 1630: 4 men. Scotland 2025: rank 228 (joint).
Hugh Montgomery’s 1605 grant of Newtownards made this Norman name an Ards name. Ayrshire farmers followed him across, and his brother George became Bishop of Raphoe, Derry and Clogher all at once. Four Mountgomerys turn up in the Donegal roll.
Cunningham
Meaning: from the district of Cunninghame. Scottish home: Cunninghame, north Ayrshire. Ulster: Donegal, Londonderry, Armagh. Donegal 1630: 18 men. Scotland 2025: rank 75.
Named after Cunninghame, the northern district of Ayrshire. In Donegal two villages carry the name, and in 1630 Cunningham was the third most common surname in the Donegal roll, behind Campbell and Browne, once you add up Conningham, Coningham and Cuningham.
Stewart
Meaning: steward. Scottish home: the High Stewards of Scotland. Ulster: Tyrone, Donegal, Antrim. Donegal 1630: 17 men. Scotland 2025: rank 6.
Seventeen Stewards in the Donegal roll, three Stewart undertakers, and a Duke of Lennox at the top. It is sixth in Scotland’s 2025 registers, so it is a name that was common on both sides of the water and still is.
Campbell
Meaning: Gaelic cam beul, crooked mouth. Scottish home: Argyll. Ulster: Donegal, Across Ulster. Donegal 1630: 22 men. Scotland 2025: rank 5.
A Highland clan name heading the Donegal roll will surprise anyone who thinks the settlers were all Lowlanders. Campbell means crooked mouth, from Gaelic cam beul, and it is fifth in Scotland today.
McFarlane
Meaning: not confirmed by our sources. Scottish home: Arrochar, Loch Lomond. Ulster: Donegal. Donegal 1630: 11 men. Scotland 2025: rank 125 (joint).
Seven McFarlanes stood in the Duke of Lennox’s company. The clan’s home is Arrochar, at the head of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, and in Ulster the spelling McFarland became the popular one.
McClelland
Meaning: not confirmed by our sources. Scottish home: Kirkcudbright, Galloway. Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal. Scotland 2025: rank 1003 (joint).
Sir Robert McClelland of Bombie was a teenager when he became chief undertaker in Boylagh and Banagh. He showed little interest in those mountain lands, sold in 1616, and put his effort into two Londonderry estates instead.
Knox
Meaning: Gaelic cnoc, a hillock. Scottish home: Across Scotland. Ulster: Donegal. Donegal 1630: 7 men. Scotland 2025: rank 347 (joint).
From Gaelic cnoc, a hillock. Bishop Andrew Knox ran the Raphoe diocese from 1611 to 1633 and turned the Rathmullan friary into his house. Seven Knoxes are in the Donegal roll.
Acheson
Meaning: from Atkin, a pet form of Adam. Scottish home: Anglo-Scots Lowlands. Ulster: Armagh. Scotland 2025: outside the top list.
From Atkin, a pet form of Adam. The Achesons founded Markethill in Armagh, and today Wikipedia says the name is common in Ireland only in Ulster, especially Antrim and Down.
Bailie
Meaning: not confirmed by our sources. Scottish home: Scotland. Ulster: Cavan. Scotland 2025: outside the top list.
A whole town is named after this family: Bailieborough in Cavan. We could not confirm the meaning, so we have not guessed.
Hume
Meaning: from Hume Castle and its lands. Scottish home: Hume Castle, Berwickshire. Ulster: Fermanagh. Scotland 2025: rank 461 (joint).
From Hume Castle in Berwickshire, and Home is the older spelling, still used by the senior branches of the family. Tully Castle in Fermanagh was built for Sir John Hume.
Armstrong
Meaning: strong in the arm. Scottish home: Liddesdale. Ulster: Fermanagh, Londonderry. Scotland 2025: rank 125 (joint).
Strong in the arm, and a reiver name with deep Ulster roots. Many Armstrongs were granted land in Fermanagh, and Wikipedia notes it is also common around Aghagallon and Glenavy in Antrim.
Shaw
Meaning: Old English sceaga, a thicket. Scottish home: Lowlands and Strathspey. Ulster: Antrim. Donegal 1630: 3 men. Scotland 2025: rank 82.
From Old English sceaga, a thicket. Ballygally Castle on the Antrim coast still carries James Shaw’s Middle Scots motto over the door: Godis Providens is my Inheritans.
Algeo
Meaning: not confirmed by our sources. Scottish home: Paisley, Renfrewshire. Ulster: Tyrone. Scotland 2025: outside the top list.
A rare one. The Algeos lived in Paisley but were ultimately of Italian origin, and the Ulster-Scots Agency even pictures Robert Algeo’s gravestone.
Spier
Meaning: not confirmed by our sources. Scottish home: Scotland (on the Ulster-Scots list). Ulster: Londonderry. Scotland 2025: outside the top list.
Nine men called Spire or Spyre on one Londonderry estate in 1630 makes this a cracking (excellent) name to trace. The Ulster-Scots Agency lists it as Spier, and its meaning is still a wee mystery.
Lowry
Meaning: Irish Lavery (O Labhradha), or the Galloway Mac Labharaigh. Scottish home: Maxwelltown, Kirkcudbrightshire. Ulster: Fermanagh, Armagh, Donegal. Donegal 1630: 3 men. Scotland 2025: outside the top list.
Two families share one spelling. The Lowrys who became Earls of Belmore in Fermanagh came from the Lauries of Maxwelltown in Kirkcudbrightshire, but many Lowrys are Irish Laverys whose name was anglicised.
How to tell if your surname is Ulster Scots
- Start with the county, not the name. If your family is from Down, Antrim, east Donegal or Fermanagh and Protestant, the odds are good, because those were the areas of heaviest Scottish settlement.
- Check the 1630 muster roll next, because a name there almost certainly came with the Plantation. Search the surviving transcriptions for old spellings too.
- Match the name to a Scottish region. Use the region filter in the checker. A Buchanan in Raphoe points to Lennox; an Elliott in west Donegal points to the Borders.
- Look for the landlord. If your townland was on a Hamilton, Montgomery or Cunningham estate, the tenants were usually recruited from the landlord’s home district.
- If the name is not in any early record, think later. Up to 50,000 Scots came in the famine years after 1690, long after the Plantation.
Watch out for: names that are Gaelic on both sides of the North Channel. Gilmore, McKee and Agnew can be Scottish or native Irish, Beattie has an Irish origin as well as a Border one, and in Ulster Maxwell sometimes replaced the Irish Miskell and Lowry the Irish Lavery. Wikipedia notes Armstrong was also used to anglicise two Ulster Gaelic names. Our Celtic last names guide explains how Mac, O’ and ap compare, and our Manx names guide shows Mac names turning into Quayle and Kermode.
For the Gaelic side of the Scottish names, our Gaelic last names guide has the Mac names, and the Highland and Lowland surnames explainer shows why most settlers were Lowlanders. If you are visiting the places on this page, our list of Belfast attractions is a good starting point for the Ards, Bangor and Carrickfergus.
Quick list: all 63 Ulster Scots surnames
| Surname | Variants | Meaning | Scottish home | Ulster county | Type | Donegal 1630 | Scotland rank 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acheson | Atchison, Aitchison | from Atkin, a pet form of Adam | Anglo-Scots Lowlands | Armagh | Patronymic | ||
| Adair | Adare | disputed | Kinhilt, Galloway | Antrim | Place name | 937 (joint) | |
| Agnew | Agnue | Norman place Agneaux, or aignel, lamb; Irish bearers may be O Gnimh | Lochnaw, Galloway | Antrim | Norman | 485 (joint) | |
| Alexander | McAlexander | from the Greek name Alexander | Across Scotland | Donegal | Patronymic | 3 | 101 |
| Algeo | Algoe | not confirmed | Paisley, Renfrewshire | Tyrone | Unknown | ||
| Armstrong | Armestrang, Armestron | strong in the arm | Liddesdale | Fermanagh, Londonderry | Nickname | 125 (joint) | |
| Bailie | Baillie | not confirmed | Scotland | Cavan | Unknown | ||
| Balfour | Balfoure | from the lands of Balfour | Fife (Burleigh) | Fermanagh | Place name | 700 (joint) | |
| Beattie | Beatty, Batie | from Bartholomew; Irish readings also exist | Borders | Tyrone, Fermanagh | Patronymic | 157 (joint) | |
| Blair | Blare | Gaelic blar, a plain or field | Many places called Blair | Down | Place name | 160 (joint) | |
| Boyd | Boid | Gaelic buidhe, fair; or from Bute | Kilmarnock, Ayrshire | Down, Donegal | Nickname | 4 | 106 (joint) |
| Brown | Browne | brown hair, complexion or clothing | Across Scotland and England | Donegal, Across Ulster | Nickname | 19 | 2 |
| Buchanan | Boochanan | from the lands of Buchanan | Loch Lomond (Lennox) | Donegal | Place name | 6 | 157 (joint) |
| Campbell | Cambell | Gaelic cam beul, crooked mouth | Argyll | Donegal, Across Ulster | Nickname | 22 | 5 |
| Colquhoun | Cahoune, Calhoun | Gaelic for narrow corner | east of Dumbarton (Lennox) | Donegal | Place name | 1 | 513 (joint) |
| Colville | Colvill | Norman English, from a place in Normandy | Ochiltree, Ayrshire | Down | Norman | 1299 (joint) | |
| Crawford | Crafford, Crawfurd | crow ford | Crawfordjohn, Lanarkshire | Donegal, Across Ulster | Place name | 12 | 78 (joint) |
| Creighton | Crichton | Gaelic crioch, border, plus tun, settlement | Crichton, Midlothian | Donegal, Fermanagh | Place name | 5 | 1929 (joint) |
| Cunningham | Conyngham, Conningham | from the district of Cunninghame | Cunninghame, north Ayrshire | Donegal, Londonderry, Armagh | Place name | 18 | 75 |
| Denniston | Deneston, Denyston | not confirmed | Renfrewshire and Lennox | Donegal | Place name | 8 | |
| Dunbar | Dunbarr | from Dunbar | Dunbar, East Lothian | Donegal, Fermanagh | Place name | 4 | 380 (joint) |
| Dunlop | Dunlap | from Dunlop in Ayrshire | Dunlop, Ayrshire | Donegal | Place name | 3 | 242 (joint) |
| Edmonstone | Edmondstone, Edmiston | not confirmed | Duntreath, Stirlingshire | Antrim | Place name | ||
| Elliott | Ellot, Elliot | origin obscure | Teviotdale and Liddesdale | Donegal, Across Ulster | Unknown | 3 | 242 (joint) |
| Fleming | ffleming | a Fleming, someone from Flanders | Across Scotland | Donegal | Place name | 8 | 89 |
| Fulton | ffulton | not confirmed | Ayrshire and Renfrewshire | Donegal | Place name | 4 | 313 (joint) |
| Galbraith | Galbreath | Gaelic for British foreigner | Loch Lomond (Inchgalbraith) | Donegal | Gaelic Mac name | 5 | 461 (joint) |
| Gilmore | Gillmore, Gilmour | servant of (the Virgin) Mary | Scotland and Ulster | Armagh, Donegal | Gaelic Mac name | 2 | |
| Gordon | Gordoun | from Gordon in Berwickshire | Berwickshire, then Aberdeenshire | Across Ulster, Londonderry | Place name | 57 | |
| Graham | Grame, Graeme | from Grantham in Lincolnshire | Borders | Donegal, Londonderry, Across Ulster | Place name | 4 | 22 |
| Hamilton | Hammilton | from Walter fitz Gilbert of Hameldone (Hambledon); meaning not settled | Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire | Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan, Fermanagh, Donegal | Place name | 6 | 29 |
| Henderson | Hendry, MacEanraig | son of Hendry or Henry | Across Scotland | Donegal | Patronymic | 9 | 28 |
| Hume | Home | from Hume Castle and its lands | Hume Castle, Berwickshire | Fermanagh | Place name | 461 (joint) | |
| Hunter | Huntar | a hunter | Across Scotland | Donegal | Occupation | 9 | 38 |
| Johnston | Johnstone | St John’s town | Annandale | Donegal, Across Ulster | Place name | 4 | 37 |
| Kennedy | Kenedy | disputed: helmeted chief, or grim-headed | Carrick, Ayrshire | Donegal | Nickname | 5 | 48 |
| Kirkpatrick | Kilpatrick | church of St Patrick | Closeburn, Dumfriesshire | Donegal | Place name | 6 | 622 (joint) |
| Knox | Knocks | Gaelic cnoc, a hillock | Across Scotland | Donegal | Place name | 7 | 347 (joint) |
| Leslie | Lesley | holly garden | Aberdeenshire and Fife | Donegal, Monaghan | Place name | 256 (joint) | |
| Lindsay | Lyndsay | from Lindsey in England | Angus and Lanarkshire | Donegal | Place name | 6 | 90 |
| Livingstone | Livingston | Levin’s town | West Lothian | Down | Place name | 334 (joint) | |
| Lowry | Laurie, Lowrye | Irish Lavery (O Labhradha), or the Galloway Mac Labharaigh | Maxwelltown, Kirkcudbrightshire | Fermanagh, Armagh, Donegal | Patronymic | 3 | |
| MacDonnell | McDonnell, MacDonald | son of Donald | Islay and Kintyre (Clan Donald) | Antrim | Gaelic Mac name | ||
| Maxwell | MacSuail | Mack’s spring or stream | near Kelso, Roxburghshire | Donegal, Across Ulster | Place name | 4 | 181 (joint) |
| McClelland | Macklelland, McLellan | not confirmed | Kirkcudbright, Galloway | Londonderry, Donegal | Gaelic Mac name | 1003 (joint) | |
| McFarlane | McFarland, mcffarlan | not confirmed | Arrochar, Loch Lomond | Donegal | Gaelic Mac name | 11 | 125 (joint) |
| McKee | Makee, Mackey | son of Aodh (fire) | Scotland and Ireland | Donegal, Across Ulster | Gaelic Mac name | 14 | 458 (joint) |
| Miller | Millar | a miller | Across Scotland and northern England | Antrim | Occupation | 8 | 23 |
| Montgomery | Mountgomery, Montgomerie | from Montgommery in Normandy | Ayrshire | Down, Donegal | Norman | 4 | 228 (joint) |
| Morrow | Morragh, Murrow | probably as Murray, sea settlement | Scotland and Ireland | Armagh, Antrim | Place name | 1003 (joint) | |
| Murray | Murry, Moray | from Moray, the district | Moray | Londonderry, Donegal | Place name | 4 | 10 |
| Orr | Ore | Gaelic odhar, dun or sallow | Renfrewshire | Down, Antrim, Londonderry, Tyrone | Nickname | 2 | 261 (joint) |
| Patterson | Paterson | son of Patrick | Scotland and northern England | Donegal | Patronymic | 5 | 201 (joint) |
| Porter | Portar | not confirmed | Scotland and England | Donegal | Occupation | 10 | 291 (joint) |
| Rankin | Ranckein | little Rand (Randolph) | Ayr | Donegal | Patronymic | 4 | 238 (joint) |
| Reid | Reed, Read | red | Across Scotland | Londonderry, Donegal | Nickname | 7 | 13 |
| Scott | Scot | a Scot | Borders (Buccleuch) | Donegal | Nickname | 12 | 11 |
| Shaw | Schaw | Old English sceaga, a thicket | Lowlands and Strathspey | Antrim | Place name | 3 | 82 |
| Spier | Spire, Spyre | not confirmed | Scotland (on the Ulster-Scots list) | Londonderry | Unknown | ||
| Stewart | Steward, Stuart | steward | the High Stewards of Scotland | Tyrone, Donegal, Antrim | Occupation | 17 | 6 |
| Trimble | Trumble | no consensus; one theory points to Roxburghshire | England or the Borders | Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone | Unknown | ||
| Wallace | Wallas, Wallice | the Welshman (a Strathclyde Briton) | Strathclyde | Donegal | Nickname | 8 | 47 |
| Young | Yong | young, to tell a son from his father | Across Scotland | Donegal | Nickname | 10 | 17 |
FAQ about Ulster Scots surnames
What are the most common Ulster Scots surnames?
Hamilton, Montgomery, Stewart, Cunningham, Campbell, Crawford, Armstrong and Johnston are the classic Ulster Scots surnames. In the 1630 Donegal muster roll the most frequent were Campbell (22 men), Browne (19), Cunningham (18) and Stewart (17). The Ulster-Scots Agency names all of them as Ulster Scots families.
Where in Ulster did the Scots settle?
Most heavily in north Down and the Ards, Antrim, east Donegal and parts of Tyrone and Fermanagh. Antrim and Down were settled privately from 1606, and the official Plantation of Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone began in 1609. Monaghan was colonised privately and less heavily.
Is Ulster Scots the same as Scots-Irish?
Yes, they are the same people. Ulster Scots is the term used in Scotland and Ireland for descendants of the 17th-century Scottish settlers in Ulster. Scots-Irish or Scotch-Irish is the American term for those who then emigrated to North America, mostly in the 1700s.
How can I tell if my surname is Ulster Scots?
Check whether the name is on the Ulster-Scots Agency list, whether it appears in the c. 1630 muster roll, and whether your family came from a heavily settled county such as Down, Antrim or east Donegal. A Scottish place name or Lowland patronymic is a good sign, but some Gaelic names are native Irish too.
Are Mc surnames Ulster Scots?
Some are and some are not. McClelland, McFarlane and McKee crossed from Scotland, while many Mc and O’ names in Ulster are native Irish. Mc and Mac are the same prefix, meaning son of, and Ulster clerks simply preferred the short form, so the spelling alone tells you nothing.
Final thoughts on Ulster Scots surnames
If you only do one thing, find the county and the landlord. A Hamilton in Down, a Buchanan in Raphoe and an Armstrong in Fermanagh each tell a different story, and the 1630 muster roll is the closest thing to a passenger list the Plantation left behind.
Everyone who has tried to trace an Ulster family has hit a missing parish register or an unreadable 1600s spelling at some point, so do not be put off. Start with the checker above, then follow the name back across the North Channel to its Scottish home.
Sources
- Ulster-Scots Agency, Discover Ulster-Scots: Surnames in Ulster
- Ulster Historical Foundation, Men and Arms: The Ulster Settlers c. 1630 (R. J. Hunter)
- Ulster Historical Foundation, The Scots in Ulster surnames map (PDF)
- 1630 Muster Roll of County Donegal, as printed in the Donegal Annual (Torrens transcription)
- 1630 Muster Roll of the Ironmongers’ estate, County Londonderry (Torrens transcription)
- 1630 Muster Roll of the Mercers’ estate, County Londonderry (Torrens transcription)
- Wikipedia, Plantation of Ulster
- Wikipedia, Ulster Scots people
- National Records of Scotland, Most Common Surnames 2025
- Wikipedia, Killyleagh Castle; also Newtownards, Donaghadee and Bangor
- Wikipedia, Ballygally Castle; also Ballycarry, Ballymena, Glenarm and Dunluce Castle
- Wikipedia, Castle Balfour; also Tully Castle, Monea Castle, Crom Estate and Lisnaskea
- Wikipedia, Hamiltonsbawn; also Markethill and Springhill House
- Wikipedia, Killeshandra; also Bailieborough, County Monaghan and Castle Leslie
- Wikipedia, Raphoe; also Rathmullan, Newtowncunningham, Strabane and Newtownstewart
- Wikipedia, Clan Hamilton, and individual surname articles for meanings
