Gordon

The origin of the surname Gordon

Gordon is a place-name surname from the Borders.

What kind of surname is Gordon?

As a toponymic (locational) surname, the surname Gordon originally described where its bearer lived or came from — a village, region, landscape feature or landmark. When people moved from one place to another, neighbours often identified the newcomer by their place of origin, and that association became a lasting family name. Some toponymic surnames name a specific town or county; others describe the local terrain, such as a hill, wood, field, ford or bridge beside which a family lived. These names are a kind of map of migration and settlement, recording where earlier generations put down roots.

How Scottish surnames work

Scottish surnames come from several roots: Gaelic patronymics using “Mac” (“son of”), Lowland and Border names, Norse-influenced names in the isles, and the famous clan system, in which many unrelated families adopted a chief's surname. Locational and occupational names appear too. As with Irish names, anglicisation reshaped many spellings over the centuries.