Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Scottish : habitational name from the place of this name, east of Inverness, named for the river at whose mouth it stands. The river name is of pre-Celtic origin.
  • First mentioned in the Carolina plantation records in 1698, the name appears with Thomas Nairne, a landowner on St. Helena Island. He went on to be a SC assemblyman and an Indian agent.

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe