'Clan' is an Irish word meaning family. It is how affiliated Scottish families are referred to. How we may be related is for you to determine in your search of your family's history. Many times it was simply that we lived in the same area. Other times we were bound by our need for food, shelter and allegiance in times of war. Many of the associated families may be a result of either marrying into the Boyd Clan or by swearing alligiance to the Chieftan.  We have not yet found any proofs of sworn allegiance from the days of old to truly proclaim 'Septs' of Boyd, so we have chosen to designate what others call our 'Septs' as merely 'Associated Families.'

The names listed on the right are a combination of the etymology of the name Boyd and names gathered from various publications alleging an entitlement to wear the Boyd Tartan and signifying a familial connection with the Scottish Noble (and some say Border Clan) Family named Boyd. Still others, we find may have been added to the list as they are from the same area as the Boyds.

The House of Boyd Society welcomes your contact with information as to how or why your Family surname may have come to be listed as a family associated with the Boyds. We desire to compile an accurate history of our affiliations with the families listed. There are many that we have little or no information about the link.

Although they are not listed below, the Stewart Clan and the Donald Clan both claim the Boyds as a Sept. This may be confusing, however, although Boyds may be considered Sept family to those two clans, the Boyd associated families, with exception, are not also Septs of the Stewart (Fullerton/Fullarton), and Donald Clans (check their listing, they claim most Scottish families!). Also, only a very small family of Boyds are actually claimed by the Donalds as a Sept.

Wherever possible, we have put a link to the home page for the Clan that the Associated Family may also have established in its own right, or that we are aware they may also be affiliated with. If you can direct us to an additional official clan site for any names listed here but not linked, please email us.

Table of Surnames

The following table is a list of surnames submitted by the members of the Society to our genealogical database with an occurance of five or more submissions per surname. (This list has not been updated in a number of years due to the retirement of our genealogist.  However, as we now have an active genealogist, check back for changes once he has a chance to settle in to his new position.)