[3] The name 'Calder' is thought to come from the early Common Brittonic, meaning 'hard or violent water' (the modern Welsh word for hard is "caled"),[4] or possibly 'stony river'.

[3] Historian William Anderson asserted that the name came to prominence in Scotland through a French knight called Hugo de Cadella, who was created Thane of Calder, later known as Cawdor.

[3] The historian George Fraser Black lists Hugo de Kaledouer as a witness to a charter of land near Montrose in around 1178.

[3] However, he was opposed by Murial's uncles, Alexander and Hugh Calder, who pursued the child and her Campbell escort into Strathnairn.

[3] The most notable member of this branch of the clan was Robert Calder who saw substantial service in the Napoleonic Wars.