Ballbirney History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Ballbirney is a name whose ancestors lived among the Picts, a tribe in ancient Scotland. The Ballbirney family lived in the lands of Balbirnie in Fife. The name is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties.

Early Origins of the Ballbirney family

The surname Ballbirney was first found in Fife, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Ballbirney family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ballbirney research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1260, 1483, 1508, 1622 and 1699 are included under the topic Early Ballbirney History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballbirney Spelling Variations

The appearance of the printing press and the first dictionaries in the last few hundred years did much to standardize spelling. Prior to that time scribes spelled according to sound, a practice that resulted in many spelling variations. Ballbirney has been spelled Balbirnie, Balbirney, Ballbirnie, Ballbirney, Ballbyrnie, Bawbyrny, Baldbernie and many more.

Early Notables of the Ballbirney family

More information is included under the topic Early Ballbirney Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ballbirney family to Ireland

Some of the Ballbirney family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ballbirney family

The expense of the crossing to the North American colonies seemed small beside the difficulties of remaining in Scotland. It was a long and hard trip, but at its end lay the reward of freedom. Some Scots remained faithful to England and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others fought in the American War of Independence. Much of this lost Scottish heritage has been recovered in the last century through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Ballbirney: Charles Balbirnie who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1827; and then moved westward.