Perthshire has a reasonable claim to being the most clan-dense county in Scotland. Sitting at the transition point between the Highland and Lowland worlds, the county encompasses everything from the flat agricultural plain of Strathearn in the south to the deep Highland glens of Atholl, Rannoch, and Breadalbane in the north. The families that emerged from this varied landscape ranged from great Highland chiefs with Gaelic traditions stretching back to the early medieval period to Lowland gentry families rooted in the feudal structures of the Scottish crown's more settled southern territories. Perthshire was also the location of some of the most significant events in Scottish history — the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715, the ancient capital of Scotland at Scone, and the spectacular Highland Pass of Killiecrankie where Graham of Claverhouse won his last and fatal victory in 1689.
For families researching Perthshire connections, the county's records — held at the A.K. Bell Library in Perth and at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh — are among the richest in the country for genealogical research. The combination of Highland and Lowland tradition, of Gaelic and Scots documentary culture, gives Perthshire a depth that rewards careful investigation.
Perthshire Clan Names at a Glance
The principal clans and families of Perthshire include: Murray, Robertson (Donnachaidh), Drummond, MacGregor, MacLaren, MacNab, Menzies, Stewart (of Atholl), Graham, Duncan, Ferguson, Haldane, Kinloch and Kinnaird — with Campbell, Farquharson and MacIntyre holding the county's western and northern edges. If your family name connects to Perthshire, use the search bar above to find clan and heritage gifts for your surname.
The Great Perthshire Clans
Clan Murray produced the Dukes of Atholl, whose Blair Castle at Blair Atholl in the upper Tay valley remains one of the great houses of Highland Scotland and the seat of the only private army in Europe, the Atholl Highlanders. The Murrays were central figures in the Jacobite risings of both 1715 and 1745 — the Marquess of Tullibardine was the senior Jacobite commander at Sheriffmuir, and Lord George Murray, the most capable general on the Jacobite side in the 1745 rising, was of the same family. Their role in those conflicts gave the Murray name a central place in the Jacobite story that has shaped Scottish historical memory ever since.
Clan Robertson — properly Clan Donnachaidh, the Children of Duncan — of Atholl claimed descent from the ancient Celtic royal line and held the distinction of being the first clan to receive a formal charter from the Scottish crown, granted by James II in recognition of their capture of the conspirators who had murdered James I at Perth in 1437. Their seat at Dunalastair in the Tummel valley and their gathering place at the Falls of Bruar in Atholl connect them to one of the most dramatic Highland landscapes in Scotland.
Clan Drummond of Drummond Castle near Crieff were one of the great Perthshire families of the Lowland-Highland borderland, their magnificent castle garden — laid out in the seventeenth century in a formal parterre style — surviving as one of the finest in Scotland. The Drummond Earls of Perth were prominent Jacobites who paid heavily for their loyalty; the earldom was attainted after 1715 and the family lived in exile for decades. The Duchess of Perth was one of the more colourful figures associated with the 1745 rising, her enthusiasm for the Stuart cause considerably exceeding what political prudence would have recommended.
Clans of Highland Perthshire
Clan MacNab held the lands of Glen Dochart and the area around Killin at the head of Loch Tay, their ancient church on the island of Inchbuie in the River Dochart one of the most atmospheric clan burial sites in the Highlands. The MacNabs were an independent-minded clan with a history of conflict with their more powerful neighbours, the MacGregors and the Campbells. Francis MacNab, the twelfth chief who died in 1816, was one of the more remarkable figures in late Highland clan history — his portrait by Raeburn captures something of the anachronistic grandeur of a Highland chief in the post-Culloden world.
Clan Menzies of Castle Menzies near Weem in the Tay valley were the great family of Breadalbane, their castle — one of the finest surviving Scottish tower houses — still standing in the Tay valley near Aberfeldy. The Menzies held extensive lands across Perthshire and Argyll and were significant figures in the political and military life of medieval and early modern Scotland. Castle Menzies itself is now in the care of the Clan Menzies Society and open to visitors.
Clan MacGregor of Glenstrae and Balquhidder were the most dramatically storied of the Perthshire clans. Proscribed in 1603 and forbidden from using their name for over a century, the MacGregors survived by gathering under other surnames while maintaining their identity in secret. Rob Roy MacGregor of Balquhidder — farmer, cattle dealer, outlaw, and folk hero — became the most famous Scottish clan figure of the early eighteenth century, his story immortalised by Walter Scott and later by multiple film adaptations.
Clan MacLaren of Balquhidder were neighbours and occasional rivals of the MacGregors, their own Perthshire roots running deep into the pre-feudal Highland world. Balquhidder churchyard, where Rob Roy is buried alongside his wife and sons, is shared ground between MacGregor and MacLaren traditions, a tangible reminder of how closely the Perthshire clans lived alongside one another in the same glens.
Perthshire Families of the Lowland Edge
Clan Haldane of Gleneagles held their Perthshire estate in the transitional zone between the Ochil Hills and the Highland edge, their castle ruins still visible in the Glen of Eagles that gives the modern golf resort its ancient name. The Haldanes produced Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, whose reform of the British Army in the years before the First World War is considered one of the most significant administrative achievements in modern British military history.
Clan Kinloch of Perthshire and Fife were among the armigerous families of the county, their name associated with several properties across the central belt. Clan Kinnaird of Angus and Perthshire similarly represented the layer of landed gentry families whose history in the documentary record is consistent if less dramatically visible than the great Highland chiefs.
The Farquharson and MacIntyre Connections
Clan Farquharson of Braemar, while primarily an Aberdeenshire family in their principal territory, held significant connections to the upper Perthshire and Angus glens that formed the southern edge of their broader territorial world. Clan MacIntyre of Glen Noe on the south shore of Loch Etive in Argyll, while primarily associated with their Argyll homeland, represent the craftsman tradition of the Highlands — their name meaning son of the carpenter — that connected the practical skills of Highland life to a specific family tradition of exceptional antiquity.
Perthshire and the Jacobite Tradition
Perthshire was at the centre of the Jacobite risings in ways that went beyond mere geography. Scone, just north of Perth, was the ancient coronation place of Scottish kings and retained enormous symbolic importance for the Stuart cause. Blair Castle in Atholl was the last castle in Britain to be besieged, when a government force was besieged there by Jacobite troops in 1746. The Battle of Sheriffmuir on the moorland above Dunblane in November 1715 was the central engagement of the first major rising. The Pass of Killiecrankie, where Viscount Dundee fell in his moment of victory in 1689, is one of the most dramatic battlefield sites in Scotland.
For families with Perthshire roots, the county's central position in Scottish history — not just in the Jacobite story but in the Wars of Independence, the Reformation, and the story of the Scottish crown — means that researching a Perthshire name is rarely a search through quiet, uneventful history. These were families that lived at the crossroads of Scotland's story, and their records reflect that.
Frequently Asked Questions
What clan names come from Perthshire?
The major Perthshire clans are Murray, Robertson, Drummond, MacGregor, MacLaren, MacNab, Menzies, Graham, Duncan, Ferguson, Stewart of Atholl and Haldane — making it arguably the most clan-dense county in Scotland.
What is Clan Donnachaidh?
Clan Donnachaidh — "the Children of Duncan" — is the Perthshire kindred that includes the Robertsons, Duncans and Reids, all tracing descent from the same Atholl line. If your surname is Robertson, Duncan or Reid, you share the same clan inheritance; our Duncan and Reid histories cover the kindred names.
Which Perthshire clans were Jacobite?
Murray (through Lord George Murray), Drummond, Robertson, MacGregor and the Stewarts of Atholl were all deeply involved in the risings — see our full guide to the clans of the Jacobite risings.
Do Perthshire clan names have tartans and family crests?
Yes — every clan above has its own tartan and crest tradition, from Murray's two mottos to Grant's "Stand Fast." Search your surname in the bar at the top of this page to see yours.
Carry a Perthshire Name?
If your family carries one of these names, you can bring the glens home: we make family crest woven blankets, mugs, garden flags, ornaments and more for every major Perthshire name. Start with our dedicated gift guides for Murray, Stewart, Graham, Duncan, Ferguson and MacGregor, or see how families display their crest at home.
The Heritage Trio — a woven blanket for the sofa, a mug for the morning, a garden flag for the front of the house — keeps a Perthshire name part of daily life. For the neighbouring regions, see our guides to the Clans of the Highlands, the Clans of Fife and the Clans of Aberdeenshire and the North East.
