Toshach is not a surname built from a chief's name. It is the word for chief. Scottish Gaelic toiseach named the head of a kindred, and the Dictionaries of the Scots Language still carry it as a headword: an office-holder of the Celtic kingdom of Scotland with civil and military authority over a district, matching the Lowland thane and developing in feudal times into a clan chieftain.
Strip the patronymic front off Mackintosh, Mac an Tòisich, "son of the toiseach," and the same word remains. Toshach is that word standing alone, worn down by four centuries of Scots clerks who had no Gaelic.
Are Toshach and Mackintosh the Same Name?
They share a root, not a form, and the difference matters once you are searching records. Mackintosh is a patronymic: it says a man was the son of a toiseach. Toshach is not patronymic at all. It attaches the office straight to the family, the way Stewart attaches a household post. A Toshach line and a Mackintosh line can come from the same office in the same glen without either descending from the other.
The chiefly family of Clan Mackintosh led the confederation known as Clan Chattan after Angus Mackintosh married Eva, heiress of its chief, in 1291. The wider pattern of Gaelic office-words hardening into surnames is set out in our guide to Gaelic clan and surname formation.
Where in Scotland Were the Toshachs?
Strathearn, in western Perthshire, more than anywhere else. Families written Toschoch, Toshoch and Toshach held Monzie and Monzievaird, two small parishes within a few miles of Crieff on the Highland edge of Perth and Kinross, and the name recurs there in charters and pedigrees from the late medieval period into the seventeenth century.
A privately compiled pedigree of those lairds, circulated online rather than published, gives the outline: a Simon Tuschech witnessing charters of the Earl of Huntingdon in 1219 and 1237; an Andrew Toshach receiving a charter for Methven in 1443; a Finlay Toschach styled thane of Glentilt around 1502; a John Toschoch holding Monzie by 1500 and dead by 1509, with that line ending in 1570. Compilations of this kind are a map of where to look, not a charter read in the National Records of Scotland, and none of it should be treated as settled until the originals are checked.
The same tradition has a David Toshach of Monzievaird crossing to America in the 1680s, and the local account of Monzievaird repeats it, giving 1685 and a party bound for New York. The dates attached to this man differ between compilations, so the crossing is family tradition rather than anything verified here from a passenger record.
Our survey of the clans and families of Perthshire covers the neighbors, and our history of the Comrie name works the same corner of Strathearn.
Is There a Clan Toshach?
No. There is no chief of the name, no clan body and no tartan assigned to Toshach itself. What there is instead is a place on somebody else's list. Clan Mackintosh of North America publishes what it describes as the thirty-eight septs recognized as part of Clan Mackintosh, and both Tosh and Toshach appear on it. That is the clan organization's own published list rather than a third party's guess, which is the standard worth insisting on whenever a sept claim is made.
Sept status is an association, not a descent. It means a Toshach may reasonably attach to Mackintosh and wear a recognized Mackintosh tartan by convention. It does not mean every Toshach descends from the chiefs. Other names sit in the same position, among them Ritchie and MacGlashan.
How Rare Is Toshach Today?
Rare in the full spelling, common enough in the clipped one. The 1901 Scottish census surname index returns no entry for Toshach at all, while the same index gives Tosh 623 bearers, ranked 1,009th. FamilySearch's tree currently records 263 Toshachs in Scotland, 61 in England and 50 in the United States.
That shape is predictable. Tosh is what a Scots-speaking clerk wrote on hearing the Gaelic word at speed, and the short form took most of the field while the long one survived in families that kept the older written style. Work both together.
How Should a Toshach Line Be Traced?
- Search Toshach, Toshoch, Toschoch, Toschach, Tosach, Tossach and Tosh together from the first query. Medieval forms run further, into Tuschech and Toisech.
- Work Perthshire first, and inside it Monzie, Monzievaird and Strowan, and Crieff. Inverness-shire is second, on the Mackintosh association rather than on proven descent.
- Read register images rather than index transcriptions. A clerk's ch and a clerk's sh are the same stroke on a bad day.
- Begin with a statutory certificate after 1855 and move backward, using our note on civil registration and our guide to ScotlandsPeople.
Own a Piece of Toshach Heritage
Chief is not something this name borrowed. It is the word itself, toiseach, the head of a kindred worn down by four centuries of Scots clerks with no Gaelic. Four Toshach pieces are made, a silver-framed keepsake ornament, a garden flag, a mug and a T-shirt, all showing the family crest against a tartan background. Clan Mackintosh of North America publishes Toshach among the names it recognizes as associated, so a bearer has a conventional claim to a recognized Mackintosh tartan; the cloth behind these crests, though, was chosen for the design and never attached to the Toshach spelling on its own. Our explainer on tartan and Scottish convention covers that difference, and shipping is free across a catalog of over 2,000 names.
Toshach Family Crest Garden Flag
Frequently Asked Questions About the Toshach Name
What does Toshach mean?
Chief or leader, from Gaelic toiseach, the head of a kindred, an office ranking below the mormaer and answering to the Lowland thane. The Scottish National Dictionary carries the word under the headword TOISEACH, with toshach and toschach among its spellings.
Is Toshach connected to Mackintosh?
Through the same root word, yes. Mackintosh is Mac an Tòisich, "son of the toiseach"; Toshach is the office-word used directly. Clan Mackintosh of North America lists both Tosh and Toshach among its recognized septs, which is an association rather than proof of descent from the chiefs.
Is there a Clan Toshach with its own chief?
No. There is no chief of Toshach, no clan body of the name and no tartan assigned to the spelling itself. The link runs through the Mackintosh sept list.
Where did the Toshachs live?
Chiefly in Strathearn in western Perthshire, around Monzie and Monzievaird near Crieff, where families written Toschoch and Toshach appear from the late medieval period into the seventeenth century.
Sources and Further Reading
- Dictionaries of the Scots Language: TOISEACH — the headword, the spellings toshach and toschach, and the definition. The entry page itself currently returns a source-file error; the results listing carries both.
- Clan Mackintosh of North America: septs — the clan organization's own list of thirty-eight recognized septs, including Tosh and Toshach.
- Clan Mackintosh — Mac an Tòisich, the 1291 marriage to Eva of Clan Chattan, and Moy Hall.
- Monzievaird — the parish two miles west of Crieff, and the account of David Toiseach and the 1685 crossing.
- A compiled pedigree of the Toschochs of Monzie and Monzievaird — the lairds and dates cited above, a research map rather than proof.
- FamilySearch: Toshach — 263 in Scotland, 61 in England, 50 in the United States.
- Tosh in the 1901 Scottish census — 623 bearers, ranked 1,009th; Toshach returns no entry.
- ScotlandsPeople — National Records of Scotland registers, wills and census images.
An office-word that became a surname, two small Strathearn parishes, and a place on somebody else's published list of associated names. Toshach designs are here.