Wikipedia

Boyd (surname)

For other uses, see Boyd.
Boyd
Bute.PNG
Location of the Isle of Bute.
Origin
Region of originScotland
Other names
Variant form(s)Boid; Bhoid

Boyd is an ancient Scottish surname.[1] The name is attached to Simon, one of several brothers and children of Alan, son of Flathald. Simon's son Robert was called Boyt or Boyd from the Celtic term boidhe—meaning fair or yellow. While the Celtic origin might be considered improbable, Saxon names from the same period such as Boed or Boyd were also present during that time and may well have been married into the Steward family however, Robert the Bruce granted lands to Sir Robert Boyd as the ancestor of the earls of Kilmarnock.[1] The Scottish peerage of the earls of Kilmarnock ends shortly after William Boyd rebelled in the Battle of Culloden in 1745. William was arrested and executed at the Tower of London in 1746. He left a widow and three sons including James, Lord Boyd who married and succeeded his father as the Earl of Errol, taking his mother's title.[2]

Another theory is of territorial origins which may have been taken from the name; Bhoid, the Gaelic term for the island of Bute,[3] located in the Firth of Clyde. The surname was very common in Edinburgh in the 17th century.[4] The Scottish Gaelic form of the surname is Boid (masculine),[5] and Bhoid (feminine).

A

B

  • Belle Boyd, Confederate spy
  • Benjamin Boyd, Australian pioneer
  • Bill Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Billy Boyd (actor), Scottish actor
  • Blanche McCrary Boyd, American novelist
  • Bob Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Brandon Boyd, American musician, singer with Incubus
  • Brittany Boyd, American basketball player
  • Brian Boyd, New Zealand English professor
  • Brett Boyd, Australian rugby player

C

  • Carla Boyd, Australian basketball player
  • Cayden Boyd, American actor
  • Cecil Boyd, Irish international rugby player
  • Chris Boyd (rugby union) (born 1958), New Zealand rugby coach
  • Christopher Boyd (IT security), computer security expert
  • Christopher Boyd (politician) (1916–2004), British politician
  • Colin Boyd, Baron Boyd of Duncansby, Scottish lawyer
  • Curtis Boyd, American jazz drummer

D

  • Danah Boyd, American blogger
  • Daniel Patrick Boyd, American arrested in connection with alleged terrorism
  • Darius Boyd, Australian rugby league player
  • Darren Boyd, British actor
  • David Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Douglas Boyd, British oboist and conductor
  • Dustin Boyd, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Dutch Boyd, American poker player

E

  • Edwin Alonzo Boyd, Canadian bank robber
  • Edith B. Boyd, one of the Del Rubio triplets
  • Elena Boyd, one of the Del Rubio triplets
  • Eliza Stewart Boyd, first woman on a jury in America
  • Esna Boyd, Australian tennis player
  • Eva Boyd, American singer Little Eva

F

G

  • George Boyd (disambiguation), several people
  • Gordon Boyd (real name: Gordon Needham), British-Australian entertainer
  • Greg Boyd (disambiguation), several people
  • Guy Boyd (sculptor), Australian sculptor

H

J

K

  • Kris Boyd (born 1983), Scottish footballer
  • Kris Boyd (American football) (born 1996), American football player

L

M

  • Mackenzie Boyd, fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale
  • Malcolm Boyd, American Episcopal priest and author
  • Margot Boyd, (1913-2008) British actor
  • Mark Alexander Boyd (1563–1601), Scottish poet
  • Marion Boyd, Canadian politician
  • Martin Boyd, Australian architect and writer
  • Mary D. R. Boyd (1809–?), American children's author
  • Merric Boyd, Australian artist
  • Michele Boyd, American actress
  • Mike Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Milly Boyd, one of the Del Rubio triplets

N

  • Nancy Boyd, pseudonym of American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay
  • Neal E. Boyd (1975–2018), American opera singer and 2008 America's Got Talent winner
  • Neva Boyd, American educator
  • Norma Elizabeth Boyd, American sorority organiser

O

  • Oil Can Boyd (born 1959), American baseball player

P

  • Pattie Boyd, British model and photographer
  • Penleigh Boyd, Australian artist
  • Peter Boyd, American bridge player
  • Peter Boyd (Trevor Eve), fictional character in the TV series Waking the Dead
  • Paul Boyd, American journalist

R

S

T

  • Terrence Boyd (born 1991), German-born American soccer player
  • Thomas Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Thomas Boyd, 1st Earl of Arran
  • Thomas Boyd, 6th Lord Boyd (c.1547-1611) (acceded Lordship 1560)
  • Tyler Boyd (American football), American football player

W

  • Walter Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Wes Boyd, American software businessman and activist
  • Willard L. Boyd, (born 1927), president of the University of Iowa and of the Field Museum of Natural History
  • William Boyd (disambiguation)
  • Woody Boyd, fictional character from Cheers

Z

References

  1. ^ a b William Anderson (1867). The Scottish Nation: Or the Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland. Fullarton. p. 364.
  2. ^ The Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland: The peerage of Scotland. W. Owen (and 2 others). 1790. p. 222.
  3. ^ David Dobson (2003). The Scottish Surnames of Colonial America. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8063-5209-1.
  4. ^ Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, pp. 94–95
  5. ^ Robertson, Boyd; Taylor, Iain (2003), Teach Yourself Gaelic, Teach Yourself, pp. 341–342
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