shetlandislandsSurnameList

SHETLAND ISLANDS SURNAMES

The Islands and Her People

The Shetland Islands are a rugged to gently undulating, generally treeless, windswept chain of islands in the North Atlantic whose climate is moderated by ocean currents.

It is believed that the first humans to settle on the Shetland Islands arrived about 6000 years ago. The Picts were residing there at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, and are likely responsible for the building of the many brochs (stone tower - castles) dotted across the islands. Although the first Norse settlers may have arrived as early as AD 600, it was during the era of Viking expansion, the 800s, which saw waves of settlers arrive primarily from the western coast of Norway. It is not known at present what happened to the original Pictish peoples who were living there at the time (if in fact the Islands were then occupied). They may have been a vanquished and eliminated foe, or neighbors who eventually merged into the Norse population. Linguistic evidence (lack of any but Norse place names) supports the former hypothesis - however, since to date the archaeological evidence is equivocal, we must turn to DNA evidence to seek answers to this vexing question.

In 1469 Norway gave control of the Shetland Islands to Scotland, and soon Scottish ministers, lairds, and merchants came to the island shores to settle and ultimately blend with the Norse population (who were largely fishermen, and crofters on small parcels of land). Today the people of the Shetlands, despite the long connection to Scotland, do not tend to see themselves as Scottish (even those with Scottish names have Norse heritage in other lines). There is still a pride in their Norse heritage. The author's (DKF) grandfather maintained that his heritage was Norwegian. In turn his grandfather, born on the Islands, but joining the merchant navy and ending up in England, consistently gave his place of birth as "Shetland Islands", not Scotland, in the census records.

In 1985 A. Sandison compared lists of heads of families compiled in 1804 with electoral lists from 1954, and determined that 24 surnames (many with spelling variations) made up half of the population of the Shetland Islands. They are as follows: Anderson, Jamieson, Robertson, Smith, Williamson, Irvine, Tait, Johnson, Leask, Halcrow, Henderson, Laurenceson, Manson, Mowat, Nicolson, Peterson, Sinclair, Thomason, Galdie, Fraser, Hughson, Hunter, Sutherland, and Tulloch. An additional 53 names brought the total to 75% of the population. These names are: Abernethy, Arthurson, Blance, Burgar, Brown, Bruce, Clerk, Duncan, Garrioch, Georgeson, Goodlad, Gray, Leslie, Malcolmson, Moncrieff, Morrison, Redland, Sandison, Aitken, Bain, Bairnson, Cogle, Davidson, Erasmuson, Gilbertson, Harper, Linklater, Murray, Ollason, Rendal, Scollay, Shewan, Stewart, Stout, and White. Also, Cheyne, Christie, Couper, Coutts, Dalziel, Eunson, Gifford, Hutchison, Inkster, Isbister, Moar, Pole, Pottenger, Priest, Simpson, Scott, Spence, Watt. Less common were, Adamson, Archibald, Bartleson, Charleson, Danielson, Dickson, Donaldson, Edwardson, Erickson, Evanson, Frederickson, Gavinson, Garthson, Grierson, Harrison, Hectorson, Herculson, Hoseason, Jacobson, Jeromson, Mattewson, Neilson, Ninianson, Rogerson, Samuelson, Theodorson, Turvelson, Walterson plus others not recorded by Sandison but with ancient ties to Shetland such as Arcus, Barclay, Beattie, Copland, Guthrie, Hay, Henry, Mail, Mann, Moodie, Nisbet, Slater.

The Surnames of Shetland

The history of the Shetland Islands is reflected in the surnames found there to this day. A patronymic naming practice was followed by the Norse descendants, sometimes into the early 1800s when permanent surnames were adopted by all. This accounts for the large number of Andersons, Johnsons, Williamsons, etc. There are also Scottish names such as Sinclair, Neven, and Bruce handed down in the same manner as English surnames from the time of the first Scottish migrations in the late 1400s.

Note: Names in black are presently represented in the Project. For further information:

For a comprehensive review of the surnames of Shetland, see Dr. Alan Beattie's book, "The Surnames of Shetland", published by the Shetland Family History Society and available also from The Shetland Times.

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