The Scottish surnames of Clan Ross reach back to a rugged arm of land that juts eastward into the North Sea, just above Inverness. In Gaelic it is simply Ros — a promontory. For nearly 800 years, the clan that took its name from this peninsula has shaped the history of the Scottish Highlands. If your surname is Ross, Anderson, MacTaggart, Gillanders, Tulloch, or any of the names listed in this guide, this is your story.
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Clan Ross is one of the oldest Highland clans. Its chiefs held the title Earl of Ross — one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval Scotland. Their lands stretched across Easter Ross, the Black Isle, and far into the northwest Highlands. Their people endured clan warfare, Jacobite politics, the brutality of the Highland Clearances, and the long journey across the Atlantic. Today, their descendants number in the hundreds of thousands, scattered across Nova Scotia, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Origin of the Ross Name
The word Ros in Scottish Gaelic means a headland or promontory. It refers to the peninsula of Easter Ross that extends eastward toward the North Sea, north of Inverness. This is the heartland of the clan — a fertile, dramatic stretch of coastline bounded by the Cromarty Firth to the south and the Dornoch Firth to the north.
The clan is also known by an older name: Clann Aindreas, meaning the sons of Andrew. This refers not to a founding ancestor named Andrew, but to Saint Andrew himself, the patron saint of Scotland. The clan’s deep devotion to Saint Andrew shaped both its identity and many of the surnames that grew from it. In older records you will find the clan called Clann Anrias or the Gille Andras — the servants of Andrew.
This spiritual identity is no accident. The first known chief of Clan Ross was a man called Fearchar Mac an t-Sagairt — in English, Farquhar MacTaggart — meaning “son of the priest.” He was descended from the hereditary Abbots of Applecross, a line of Celtic churchmen who had guarded the faith in the western Highlands for generations. Faith and family were, for Clan Ross, one and the same thing.
The Earls of Ross: A Highland Dynasty
Fearchar MacTaggart enters the historical record in a decisive way. Around 1215, he helped King Alexander II of Scotland crush a dangerous rebellion led by Donald Bane, a rival claimant to the Scottish throne. The king rewarded him handsomely. By 1234, Fearchar had been formally recognised with the title Earl of Ross — one of the most powerful positions in the entire kingdom.
The Earls of Ross rose quickly to dominate Highland politics. By the 13th and 14th centuries, the earldom was one of the wealthiest and most influential in Scotland. The chiefs controlled vast territories, commanded large fighting forces, and wielded authority that even the Scottish crown had to treat with care.
The chiefly seat was Balnagown Castle, a few miles from the town of Tain in Easter Ross. The first Laird of Balnagown, Hugh Ross, was granted the lands in 1368. The castle he built became the administrative heart of the clan for centuries. When the earldom was forfeited in 1476 — after the defeat of the Lord of the Isles, who had held the title — the chieftainship passed to the Rosses of Balnagown, and the name survived.
Tain itself became one of the most important towns in the north of Scotland. Its church, the Collegiate Church of St Duthac, held the shrine of Saint Duthac — a Celtic bishop and the patron saint of the town. The return of the saint’s relics in 1253 made Tain a major place of pilgrimage. King James IV, one of Scotland’s most remarkable monarchs, made an annual journey to the shrine from 1493 right up to 1513. That a Scottish king would ride alone for days to pray at a shrine in Easter Ross tells you something about the spiritual weight this corner of Scotland carried.
Fearchar MacTaggart also founded Fearn Abbey in 1238. This Premonstratensian abbey became the spiritual home of Clan Ross for generations. The chiefs were buried here. The monks kept records, cared for the sick, and maintained a thread of learning and culture through the turbulence of the centuries. The ruins of Fearn Abbey still stand today in the village of Fearn, a short drive from Tain.
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Scottish Surnames of Clan Ross
Clan Ross gave rise to a wide range of surnames, many of which are common today across the Scottish diaspora. If you carry one of these names, your ancestors may well have walked the shores of the Cromarty Firth or worked the land of Easter Ross.
Ross
The chief surname of the clan. From Gaelic Ros, meaning promontory or headland. Borne by the earls and chiefs, and by the many families who took the clan name as their own across the centuries.
Anderson / Andison
One of the most common surnames in Scotland, and a core sept of Clan Ross. Anderson means “son of Andrew” — Mac Aindreas in Gaelic. The deep connection to Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, runs through the very heart of Clan Ross identity. Anderson families from Easter Ross and the surrounding Highlands are overwhelmingly of Ross descent.
MacAndrew / Andrew / Andrews
Gaelic forms of the same Andrew connection. Mac Aindreas — son of Andrew. These names appear frequently in the old parish records of Ross-shire. Families who anglicised their names in the 18th and 19th centuries often chose the simpler forms Andrew or Andrews.
Gillanders
From Gaelic Gille Aindreas, meaning “servant of Andrew” or “devotee of Saint Andrew.” This is one of the oldest surnames associated with Clan Ross. The early earls were known collectively as the Gille Andras, and the name Gillanders continued as a hereditary surname in Easter Ross for centuries. It is less common today, which makes it a particularly clear marker of Ross ancestry.
MacTaggart / Taggart
From Gaelic Mac an t-Sagairt, meaning “son of the priest.” This was the original surname of Fearchar, the founding earl of Clan Ross. It is one of the most historically significant surnames in the Ross story. Taggart is a common anglicisation. Families named MacTaggart or Taggart in Highland Scotland are almost certainly of Clan Ross descent.
Dingwall
From Old Norse Þingvöllr, meaning “assembly field” or “parliament field.” Dingwall is the county town of Ross and Cromarty. The Ross chiefs held their assemblies here. Families who took this place name as a surname were clearly rooted in the very centre of Ross territory. You will find Dingwalls across Canada and New Zealand today — descendants of emigrants who left Easter Ross in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Tulloch
From Gaelic Tulach, meaning “hillock” or “mound.” The Rosses of Tulloch were one of the most important branches of the clan. They served as hereditary standard bearers to the chiefs. The Tulloch family seat, Tulloch Castle near Dingwall, is now a hotel and can be visited today. If you carry the name Tulloch and your family traces back to Ross-shire, you may descend from one of the most trusted families in the entire clan.
MacCulloch / MacLulich
From Gaelic Mac Cullaich, meaning “son of the boar.” The boar was a symbol of courage and ferocity in Highland culture. MacLulich is a variant spelling of the same root. Both names are found in Ross-shire and the surrounding Highland counties. If your MacCulloch ancestors came from Ross and Cromarty, they were almost certainly part of the Ross clan network.
MacTear / MacTier / MacTyre
From Gaelic Mac an t-Saoir, meaning “son of the craftsman” or “son of the carpenter.” These surname variants appear in Easter Ross records going back to the 17th century. The name was anglicised in different ways by different families, which is why you find MacTear, MacTier, and MacTyre as distinct surnames today, all pointing back to the same Gaelic original.
Vass / Wass
The origin of Vass and Wass is debated. Some scholars link it to the Norman-French word for a vassal or dependent. Others connect it to a place name in Easter Ross. What is clear is that families named Vass and Wass appear consistently in Clan Ross territory from the medieval period onward. These are uncommon surnames today, which makes them useful markers when tracing ancestry in the north of Scotland.
Duthie
From the Gaelic personal name Dubhthaich, the name of Saint Duthac — the patron saint of Tain. The saint was born in Tain around 1000 AD and died in Ireland in 1065. His relics were returned to Tain in 1253, and his shrine became the most important pilgrimage site in the north of Scotland. Families who took the name Duthie were honouring the most sacred figure in Easter Ross. The name is particularly common in Aberdeenshire and Ross-shire.
Corbet / Corbett
From Old French corbeau, meaning “crow.” The Corbets were a Norman family who became attached to Clan Ross as a dependent sept. Norman family names entered the Scottish system in the 12th and 13th centuries as Scotland’s kings encouraged French-speaking nobles to settle in the country. The Corbets of Ross-shire were firmly integrated into the clan by the 14th century.
Tarrel
A locative surname from Tarrel, a small settlement on the Easter Ross peninsula overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Families who took this name were identified with a very specific piece of Ross territory. If you carry the name Tarrel, your ancestral roots are almost certainly in the very heart of Clan Ross country.
Denoon / Denune
From the place Dennoon in Ross-shire. Another locative surname tying families directly to the Ross homeland. The variations Denoon and Denune appear in church and civil records from the 17th century onward. Like Tarrel, this is a name that points to a very specific piece of Highland geography.
The Clan Ross Tartan
Clan Ross has its own distinctive tartan. The Ross Modern tartan features a warm red base with green, navy, and yellow lines in a bold, classic Highland pattern. There is also a Ross Hunting tartan — a more muted green and navy design suited to outdoor wear — and a Ross Ancient tartan, which uses lighter, softer tones that reflect older dyeing traditions.
The Ross tartan is registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans in Edinburgh. Any family whose surname appears in the list of septs above is entitled to wear the Ross tartan. It is one of the more striking Highland tartans, and wearing it is a direct statement of connection to one of Scotland’s oldest and most storied Highland clans.
Other clans neighbouring the Ross territory — such as Clan MacKenzie and Clan Fraser — also have their own tartans, and the neighbouring clans’ tartans are often displayed together at Highland gatherings in Easter Ross and Inverness-shire.
Clan Ross and the Jacobite Risings
When the Jacobite risings tore through the Highlands in the 18th century, Clan Ross took a distinctive position: they sided with the Government, not with the exiled Stuart kings.
In 1689, 100 men of Clan Ross occupied Castle Leod — the seat of the rival Clan MacKenzie — to watch for Jacobite movements. In 1715, during the first major rising, Ross men fought alongside their allies the Munros, Mackays, and Sutherlands. Caught in a retreat near Alness in Easter Ross, they were driven back by a larger Jacobite force in what is remembered as the Skirmish of Alness.
In 1719, a company of Ross men fought for the Government at the Battle of Glen Shiel, where Jacobite forces — including the MacKenzies — were defeated. By standing against the Jacobites, Clan Ross avoided the catastrophic forfeiture that destroyed many Highland clans after the 1745 rising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Their loyalty was pragmatic as much as political, but it preserved the clan’s lands and its continuity.
This contrasts sharply with Clan Cameron, which threw its full support behind Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1745 and paid a terrible price at Culloden. Understanding the different choices made by different clans helps explain why Highland surnames survived differently — and why some families migrated to Nova Scotia or the Carolinas with very different stories behind them.
The Highland Clearances and the Massacre of the Rosses
The 18th and 19th centuries brought devastation to Easter Ross. Landlords — some of them members of the clan itself, their loyalties now aligned more with money than kinship — cleared the land of its tenants to make way for sheep farming.
The most notorious episode in Ross history is known as the Massacre of the Rosses, which took place in 1854 at Greenyards in Strathcarron. When sheriff’s officers arrived to serve eviction notices, local women gathered to resist them. The officers responded with violence. Several women were beaten and injured. The event drew national outrage and helped fuel the growing campaign for tenant rights that would eventually produce the Crofters’ Act of 1886.
Before and after Greenyards, thousands of Ross families were forced off land their ancestors had farmed for generations. Many emigrated. Some went willingly, hoping for a better life. Many had no choice at all.
If your family left Ross-shire in the 19th century, there is a good chance they were cleared. Understanding the Clearances is a central part of understanding your Scottish ancestry. The guide to planning your Scottish heritage trip includes a section on visiting Clearance memorial sites — many of which are in Easter Ross itself.
Migration: Nova Scotia, Canada, and the Scottish Diaspora
The migration of Ross families to North America began well before the Clearances. In 1773, the ship Hector sailed from Loch Broom in Ross-shire carrying 189 Highland emigrants to Pictou, Nova Scotia. The voyage took 11 weeks. Dysentery and smallpox claimed 18 lives on board. But the survivors landed at Pictou Harbour on 15 September 1773 — and with them came surnames that are still found across Nova Scotia today.
John Ross was the recruiting agent who signed up many of the passengers. The majority came from Loch Broom, deep in Ross-shire. Within a century of that first landing, more than 120 ships had brought nearly 20,000 Scots to Pictou alone. Today, it is estimated that more than 140,000 people are direct descendants of the Hector’s passengers.
Ross surnames — Ross, Anderson, MacTaggart, Gillanders, MacAndrew — are found throughout Cape Breton Island, Pictou County, and Prince Edward Island. Many Scots-Canadian families descended from Easter Ross emigrants still speak a form of Scottish Gaelic. The town of New Glasgow in Nova Scotia was named by settlers who missed their Highland home.
Ross families also emigrated to North Carolina (where the Cape Fear River valley became a Highland settlement), to Australia, and to New Zealand. If you are Scottish-American, Scottish-Canadian, or Scottish-Australian with a Ross-connected surname, tracing back to Easter Ross is often the starting point for understanding your family story. The 7-day Scottish ancestry itinerary outlines how to combine archive visits with travel through the actual clan lands.
Where to Visit Today: Clan Ross Country
Easter Ross is one of the least-visited parts of the Scottish Highlands — which means it remains genuinely unspoilt. For anyone tracing Ross ancestry, this region offers a remarkable concentration of historic sites within a very small area.
Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre
The Tain & District Museum holds one of the finest local history collections in the Highlands. Its dedicated Clan Ross section includes genealogical records, clan artefacts, and detailed histories of the septs and branches. Guided tours to Balnagown Castle can be booked here. The museum is the essential first stop for anyone researching Ross ancestry in the area.
Balnagown Castle
The ancient seat of the Rosses of Balnagown, near Kildary in Easter Ross. The castle itself is a private home, but guided tours of the grounds, walled garden, and castle exterior can be arranged through the Tain Museum. The tour costs £200 for a group and must be booked at least a week in advance. Standing outside the castle walls, you are standing on ground that the clan held for over 600 years.
Fearn Abbey
Founded by Fearchar MacTaggart, the first Earl of Ross, in 1238, Fearn Abbey served as the spiritual home and burial ground of the clan chiefs for centuries. The atmospheric ruins stand in the village of Fearn, about 12 miles east of Tain. The abbey church was partly rebuilt and remains in use today. This is where the history of Clan Ross is most directly felt.
St Duthac’s Collegiate Church, Tain
One of the finest medieval buildings in the Highlands, and the site of the shrine of Saint Duthac. The interior still shows where the shrine once stood. A new pilgrimage route — St Duthac’s Way — now follows the same roads that King James IV rode to reach Tain. The church museum inside tells the full story of the saint and his significance to Easter Ross.
Tulloch Castle, Dingwall
The seat of the Rosses of Tulloch, the clan’s hereditary standard bearers, Tulloch Castle is now a hotel. You can stay in the building, walk the grounds, and see the medieval tower that the family built. Dingwall itself — the Norse parliament town that gave its name to the clan’s Dingwall sept — is just a short walk away, with its own local museum and heritage trail.
For a full approach to researching your Ross or related ancestry before visiting, the Clan Gordon and Clan Murray guides cover neighbouring clans whose histories frequently intersect with the Ross story in the northeast Highlands.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the surname Ross mean?
Ross comes from the Gaelic word Ros, meaning promontory or headland. It refers to the peninsula of Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands, which was the ancestral homeland of Clan Ross. Families named Ross — wherever they live today — can trace the name back to this specific piece of Highland geography.
Is Anderson a sept of Clan Ross?
Yes. Anderson — meaning “son of Andrew” — is one of the main septs of Clan Ross. The clan was deeply associated with Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, and many families within the clan took the name Anderson or MacAndrew. Anderson families from Easter Ross and Ross-shire are almost always of Clan Ross descent.
Did Clan Ross support the Jacobites?
No. Clan Ross sided with the Government during the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1719. They fought alongside the Munros, Mackays, and Sutherlands against the Jacobite forces. This decision preserved the clan’s lands when many Jacobite clans faced forfeiture after 1745. Their position was consistent across both major uprisings.
What happened to Clan Ross during the Highland Clearances?
Clan Ross was severely affected by the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries. The most notorious episode was the Massacre of the Rosses at Greenyards, Strathcarron, in 1854, when women resisting eviction notices were beaten by sheriff’s officers. Thousands of Ross families emigrated — many to Nova Scotia on ships including the famous Hector in 1773 — and their descendants spread across Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Where can I research Clan Ross ancestry in Scotland?
The Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre in Tain, Easter Ross, is the best starting point. It holds genealogical records, clan histories, and can arrange guided tours of Balnagown Castle. The National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh holds birth, marriage, and death records going back to 1855, as well as Old Parish Records going back further. The guide to planning a Scottish heritage trip covers all the key archives and resources in detail.
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