Origin & Meaning of the Clelland Surname

This interesting surname has two possible sources. Firstly, it maybe of Anglo-Saxon origin, and a Scottish locational name from Clelland (formerly called Cleland or Kneland) near Motherwell, Lanarkshire; the first recorded namebearer (see below) was from this source. The placename derives from the Olde English pre 7th century "claeg", clay, with "land", land. During the Middle Ages when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name.

The seal of Andrew Cleland, one of the bailies of Edinburgh (1612), reads "S'Andree Kneland". Secondly, the surname may be of Irish origin, as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac Giolla Fhaolain", composed of the elements "Mac", son of, "Giolla", servant of, and "Faolan", a personal name representing a diminutive of "faol", wolf, hence "son of the servant of Faolan".

The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century and can also be found as Clelland. On August 3rd 1602, Agnes Cleland married John Roger in Edinburgh, Midlothian; and John Cleland married Susanna Smith on March 27th 1750, at Saintfield, Co. Down, Ireland. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is a blue shield with a silver hare saliant with a green hunting horn garnished red hanging about the neck, the Crest being a falcon standing on a sinister hand glove proper. The Motto "Non sibi" translates as "Not for himself". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Kneland, which was dated 1275, in the "Records of Scotland", during the reign of King Alexander 111 of Scotland, 1249 - 1286.

This surname is connected to my tree through my grandfather's mother Elizabeth Clelland who was born in Hamilton, Scotland and she went on to marry William Dobson, whose photograph appears under the Dobson surname blog.  Together they had around 8 children, with 4 dying in infancy, although 4 survived.  Elizabeth was one of 4 children, with her elder brother William dying before his first birthday.  Surviving family still stay in the area and her sister's family now reside in Canada.

Clan Badge

Clelland Tartan

Clelland Modern Tartan