Surname Distribution is a process whereby the geographical frequency of a given surname is plotted based on the number of occurences of the surname from either a census (19th century) for a given region, or in recent times based on the occurence of a given name from phonebook entries. While not a completely historical certainty, as to the geographical origins of a given surname, this method can be used to show regions where a given surname occurs in the greatest frequency, and this can often be an indicator as to the geographical/regional origin of that surname. Some surnames are widely distributed and occur in relatively equal numbers (or numbers that don't give enough statistical difference to truly indicate anything about where the surname originated) whereas other surnames do, indeed, occur within very specific and isolated regions within a country.
The following chart shows distribution of the Grant surname, based on various information sources, including the entries from the census in Great Britain (where locale is given). As can be seen, the greatest frequency of the distribution of the Grant surname is in the north, in Inverness, followed closely by the regions of Moray and Banf. There are moderate numbers of Grants in southern England (Devon, Hampshire), and also around Middlesex (which covers London), and Durham. Other than this, there are only very small occurences of the name scattered throughout the rest of England and Wales.
(This surname distribution map was generated by Roots
Map at http://www.rootsmap.com)
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It is interesting to note that some of the first occurences of the name Grant in the historical record are in the north, in Inverness, where early bearers of the surname Grant were Sheriffs. Recently, members of Clan Grant have been engaged in a debate as to the origin of the Grant surname. One theory put forward quite recently is that the Grants actually originated in the north, in Scotland, and migrated south to Nottingham and Lincoln, not vice-versa. The basis for their theory is that if the name Grant originated in England, in the south with Norman barons according the popular "Norman Origin" theory of the Clan Grant (the one most often seen in books on the clan's origin), then there should be far more occurences of the name Grant in the south - with the frequency of the name diminishing the further north one goes. This means that one should see large concentrations of the surname Grant somewhere in the south, the most likely candidate being the region of East Anglia, where the Norman theory claims the barons from whom the Grant clan sprung were by then well established.
However, as this surname distribution map shows, it seems apparent that the name Grant occurs in far greater numbers in the north - greater numbers than should seem possible if their origins were elsewhere - and this number descreases significantly in frequency the further south one goes. It's also quite interesting to note that in East Anglia the surname occurs in no greater frequency than virtually anywhere else in England! In fact, there are more Grants in Middlesex, Devon and Hampshire, as plotted here, than there are in the regions of East Anglia.
It should be noted that though some may try to argue that the assumption of the Chief's surname on the part of clansmen unrelated to the bloodline, from the 15th century on, could account for the larger numbers, this hypothesis falls apart for the following reasons:
- If the surname was of English/Norman origin then it would have been well established somewhere (probably Nottingham or Lincoln) in the south by circa 1250-1270. Surname adoption in Scotland by the peasant classes came much later than it did in England (where surnames were a Norman custom). Most families in Scotland did not begin to adopt surnames (and even then usually as a patronymic - from the father's name - Williamson, Johnson, Robertson, etc) until the 15th century, and even later. The custom of adopting a chief's surname can't be shown to really have begun in any sort of earnest by clansmen until the 16th century. Any Grant family in the south would have had an approximately 300 year head start on the clansmen living in Strathspey in Scotland. This would easily show a high concentration of the surname in England, somewhere -- where it originated -- regardless of the family in Scotland. The surname distribution, shown above, shows no such thing. It is a statisical improbability, if not impossibility, that the Grant surname originated anywhere other than where the early Clan manuscripts say -- in Scotland, from Norse progenitors.
- The low birthrate and high infant mortality rate in Scotland would have severely mitigated the exponential acceleration of the surname in Scotland by clansmen assuming the name. Given the higher birthrate and much lower infant mortality in England, the family in the south would have kept pace for quite a while, probably not being overtaken by the family in the north until the 1700's at the earliest. Again, the surname distribution study shows no such thing.
Additionally, the following can be said of the surname itself, which no one has been able to explain adequately:
- The name "Grant" doesn't mean anything outside of Gaelic or possibly Norse (meaning "Gray haired" or possibly "Gravelly" or "Gritty", and in Norse the word Gran meaning "fur tree" -- the Grant's plant badge -- and Grandt supposedly meaning "large, tall" as does the French "Le Grand" -- though through the love of puns, the family may have played on the Norman "Grand" later on. Frazier means "strawberry" in French, and the Frasers certainly used this pun as a play on their own name, on their own arms). The original Britons (Celtic) called the river Cam "Grant" and the town of Cambridge "Grantabriga" (both places are still called this in Wales). If a family in this region assumed the name based on the river or the town , and originated there, then there should be a lot of them still living in this region. No case can be made that any family ever took their name from either the river or the town (though it's possible this area was one of the holdings of one of the original Norse proto-Grants, so there may be some remote connection here to the name).
- The original Britons (Celtic) called the river Cam "Grant" and the town of Cambridge "Grantabriga" (both places are still called this in Wales). If a family in this region assumed the name based on the river or the town , and originated there, then there should be a lot of them still living in this region. No case can be made that any family ever took their name from either the river or the town (though it's possible this area was one of the holdings of one of the original Norse proto-Grants, so there may be some remote connection here to the name).
- The Normans couldn't even deal with the surname Grant (which all accounts, even the earliest, show the adopters of the name used, spelled phonetically as "Graunt", "Grawnt", and "Grannt" in addition to "Grant" - as it was pronounced) which is why they changed the name of the Grant to the Cam, Grantabrigga to Cambridge, and why original Norman documents invariably list the name as "dictus Grant" (not "le Graunt" as is often stated - the earliest forms are "dictus Grant") -- dictus meaning "strange name" or "this is how it sounds but we don't know what it means". If the name were derived from "Le Grand" then the Norman scribes would have known it and used it. In Gaelic, Grand would be softened to to a "t" at the end as "Grant", but why the Normans would write the name in the Gaelic form, or a Norman family would pronounce their name in a Gaelic fashion, makes no sense whatsoever.
Update: 1/14/03: Researchers and historians of the Clan Grant have put their latest findings on-line. Visit the Clan Grant History site to view the latest research into the origins of the Grant surname and the history of the clan. Their findings corroborate the results of this surname distribution study, and give further evidence to the theory that the Grants originated in the north and migrated south into England, and west, to Ireland.
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