Show ContentsFairney History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The ancestors of the Fairney family were part of an ancient Scottish tribe called the Picts. They lived in the lands of Fernie in Fife where the name can be found since very early times.

Early Origins of the Fairney family

The surname Fairney was first found in Fife, where Fernie Castle, the family's ancestral home is an enlarged sixteenth-century tower house just east of the village of Letham.

Early History of the Fairney family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fairney research. Another 94 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1390, 1475 and 1516 are included under the topic Early Fairney History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fairney Spelling Variations

Prior to the invention of the printing press in the last hundred years, documents were basically unique. Names were written according to sound, and often appeared differently each time they were recorded. Spelling variations of the name Fairney include Fernie, Ferny, Fearny, Fearney, Ferney, Firnie, Firney and many more.

Early Notables of the Fairney family

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

Migration of the Fairney family

The freedom of the North American colonies was enticing, and many Scots left to make the great crossing. It was a long and hard journey, but its reward was a place where there was more land than people and tolerance was far easier to come by. Many of these people came together to fight for a new nation in the American War of Independence, while others remained loyal to the old order as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of Scots in North America have recovered much of this heritage in the 20th century through Clan societies and other such organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important and early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Fairney: John Fernie made his home in Virginia in 1623. William Fernie landed in New England in 1654. Many of the Fernie name purchased land in Pennsylvania in the mid-1800's..


Contemporary Notables of the name Fairney (post 1700) +

  • Ted Fairney, who died aged 93, one of the survivors from Royal Oak, the first battleship to be lost in the Second World War

HMS Repulse
  • Mr. Terence Fairney, British Able Bodied Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 1
HMS Royal Oak
  • H. Fairney, British Engine Room Artificer with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 2


  1. HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html
  2. Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook