Saw History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Etymology of Saw

What does the name Saw mean?

The ancient Scottish name Saw is carried by the descendents of the Pictish people. It was a name for a person who shared some of the qualities attributed to a wolf. Saw is a nickname surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one's personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. The surname Saw is derived from the Gaelic first name Sithech, which means wolf.

Early Origins of the Saw family

The surname Saw was first found in Perthshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Pheairt) former county in the present day Council Area of Perth and Kinross, located in central Scotland, where the family appears to have been firmly entrenched in the Eastern coastal regions well before 1000 AD.

While some claim that the Clan originally descended from a MacDuff, one of the ancient Earls of Fife, the first official mention in documents shows them to be present at the General Council held by King Malcolm at Forfar in 1061.

However, this ancient leadership was challenged by many other Clans Commyns (Cummings) who had leased the Shaw lands of Rothiemurchus.

Early History of the Saw family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Saw research. Another 369 words (26 lines of text) covering the years 1178, 1226, 1405, 1411, 1527, 1550, 1602, 1608, 1625, 1672, 1692, 1751, 1774, 1776, 1799, 1804, 1826, 1832, 1849, 1876 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Saw History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Saw Spelling Variations

When the first dictionaries were invented in the last few hundred years, spelling gradually became standardized. Before that time, scribes spelled according to sound. Names were often recorded under different spelling variations every time they were written. Saw has been written Shaw, Shawe, Mac Ghille-Sheathanaich (Gaelic) and others.

Early Notables of the Saw family

Robert Shaw (died 1527), Scottish cluniac monk and prelate; William Schawe (1550-1602), Scottish architect, probably a younger son of Schaw of Sauchie; John Shawe or Shaw (1608-1672), an English puritan minister from Yorkshire; John Shaw Sr. (1776-1832), English architect; Thomas Shaw...
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Saw Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Saw family to Ireland

Some of the Saw family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 123 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Saw migration to the United States +

The crossing to North America did not seem so great in comparison with the hardships many Scots endured at home. It was long, expensive, and cramped, but also rewarding. North America offered land and the chance for settlers to prove themselves in a new place. And many did prove themselves as they fought to forge a new nation in the American War of Independence. The ancestors of those Scots can now experience much of their once-lost heritage through the Clan societies and highland games that have sprung up across North America in the last century. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Saw:

Saw Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Adam Saw, who arrived in Maryland in 1665 1

Saw migration to Australia +

Saw Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Henry Saw, aged 22, a bricklayer, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Caroline" 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Saw (post 1700) +

Saw Swee Hock HFLSE (1931-2021), Singaporean leading expert in statistics, population, and economics, and was a noted philanthropist

The Saw Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: I mean well

Sources +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
South Australian Register Thursday 26th April 1855. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Caroline 1855. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/caroline1855.shtml