Show ContentsDurow History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The descendants of the clans of the ancient Scottish tribe known as the Picts were the first to use the name Durow. It was a name for a person who held the office of Dereth.

Early Origins of the Durow family

The surname Durow was first found in Fife, where "Durie, [is] an estate in the parish of Scoonie." 1

Some of the first records of the family include: "Duncan de Durry witnessed a charter by Malise, earl of Strathem, c. 1258-1271. John Dury [who] was cleric in St. Andrews diocese, 1464, and Walter Doray [who] was one of the brethren of the Priory of Cupar, 1500. Mr. Andrew Dure was presented to the vicarage of Newtyle, 1519, George Dury witnessed a presentation in St. Andrews, 1526, and Joneta Durye had sasine of lands in Ayrshire, 1564. " 2

Early History of the Durow family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Durow research. Another 302 words (22 lines of text) covering the years 1260, 1296, 1464, 1496, 1519, 1526, 1527, 1530, 1537, 1555, 1558, 1561, 1564, 1587, 1596, 1600, 1616, 1650 and 1680 are included under the topic Early Durow History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Durow Spelling Variations

Before the first dictionaries appeared in the last few hundred years, scribes spelled according to sound. spelling variations are common among Scottish names. Durow has been spelled Durie, Durray, Doray, Dorie, Durrie and others.

Early Notables of the Durow family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Robert Durie (1555-1616), a Scottish Presbyterian minister; and his son, John Dury (1596-1680), a Scottish Calvinist minister and intellectual. He made efforts to re-unite the Calvinist and Lutheran wings of Protestantism.Andrew Durie (d. 1558), was Bishop of Galloway and Abbot of Melrose, the son of John Durie of Durie in Fife, and brother to George Durie. George Durie (1496-1561), was Abbot of Dunfermline and Archdeacon of St. Andrews. "From 1527 till 1530 he acted as judge and executor of the monastery of Arbroath. During...
Another 92 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Durow Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Durow family to Ireland

Some of the Durow family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Durow migration to the United States +

In those unstable times, many had no choice but to leave their beloved homelands. Sickness and poverty hounded travelers to North America, but those who made it were welcomed with land and opportunity. These settlers gave the young nations of Canada and the United States a strong backbone as they stood up for their beliefs as United Empire Loyalists and in the American War of Independence. In this century, the ancestors of these brave Scots have begun to recover their illustrious heritage through Clan societies and other heritage organizations. Early passenger and immigration lists reveal many Scottish settlers bearing the name Durow:

Durow Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Miss Durow, who landed in America in 1846 3
  • Christian David Durow, aged 50, who arrived in America in 1846 3


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  3. 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)


Houseofnames.com on Facebook