This document records the deeds of homage pledged by Scots nobles to Edward I, King of England in 1296.
The surnames recorded within are for the most part very similar to those found in England at around the same date, consisting of local, patronymic and occupational names, and nicknames.
[3][note 1] Other early records show patronyms using forms of the Welsh ap, meaning "son"; and the Gaelic mac, meaning son (for example, the names of Macrath ap Molegan, and Gilmychel Mac Eth appear in the same document).
One of the most common surnames in Scotland is Simpson, which means the son of "Simon", in Gaelic the equivalent names are McSymon, and MacSymon.
[9] Many surnames are derived from the occupations, or trades, of their original bearers (for example, Stewart, Shepherd, Mason, Kemp, Webb, and Fletcher).
[13] In time, true occupational surnames became hereditary and were passed down through families (for example, in 1525 there is a record of a woman named Agnes Beltmakar, who is described as a kaikbakstar).
Bynames were particularly prevalent in fishing communities in the northeastern part of Scotland,[17] but were also used in the Borders and the West Highlands.
One of the most common Scottish surnames is Campbell, which is derived from the Gaelic Caimbeul, meaning "crooked-mouth".
In many cases, the families that originally lived on the lands acquired by powerful clans (such as the Campbells, Gordons, Macdonalds, and Mackenzies) adopted the names of their new lords.
[26][note 11] Historian Charles Ian Fraser stated in his history of the Clan Munro that the bond between clansman and chief cannot in every instance have been that of a common blood.
Forms of the surnames MacBeth and MacRae are derived from the Gaelic personal names Mac-bethad and Mac-raith.
Other Lowland, or English, diminutives of personal names ending with the suffixes -on, and -in, were borrowed by Gaelic speakers (for example Rankin to Macrankin, Gibbon to Macgibbon).
[33] In the northern Hebrides, many of the indigenous surnames are derived from Gaelicised Norse personal names (for example, MacAmhlaigh → Macaulay, MacAsgaill → Macaskill, and MacLeòid → Macleod).
[15] Such 'Norse' names in these areas are in complete contrast to the indigenous surnames of the adjacent islands and lands to the south.
[34] Some surnames brought to Scotland in the Middle Ages by English, or Anglo-Normans, are also derived from Norse personal names.
These suffixes were added to pet-forms of names (for example, Adkin diminutive of Adam, and Paton from Patrick).
[35] The name Fraser (Gaelic Friseal) has a unique etymology; it originally derives from the French fraise, meaning strawberry.
In some cases, surname changes are allowed if the person receives a decree, or certificate of change, from the Lord Lyon King of Arms; or if certain certified wills, settlements, or deeds of trust, contain conditions where a person must take a surname different from the one which they were registered at birth; or when a male has married and changed his surname following his marriage, and has received a decree or certificate from the Lord Lyon King of Arms.