Show ContentsKirt History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Kirt is a name that evolved among the descendants of the people of the kingdom of Dalriada in ancient Scotland. It is a name for a person who worked as a worker in brass. The name Kirt is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "ceard", which refers to a craftsman, a traveling tinker who repaired pots and kettles, and a worker in brass. The family is believed to have made many of the Highland plaid brooches of brass.

Early Origins of the Kirt family

The surname Kirt was first found in Ayrshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Inbhir Àir), formerly a county in the southwestern Strathclyde region of Scotland, that today makes up the Council Areas of South, East, and North Ayrshire, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Kirt family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kirt research. Another 196 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1275 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Kirt History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kirt Spelling Variations

Spelling and translation were not standardized practices until the last few centuries. Spelling variations are extremely common among early Scottish names. Kirt has been spelled Caird, Kaird, Kerd, Keard, Ceard, Kerde, McIncaird, McKincaird, Kincaird and many more.

Early Notables of the Kirt family

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

Ireland Migration of the Kirt family to Ireland

Some of the Kirt 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 Kirt migration to the United States +

Scottish settlers arrived in many of the communities that became the backbones of the United States and Canada. Many stayed, but some headed west for the endless open country of the prairies. In the American War of Independence, many Scots who remained loyal to England re-settled in Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Scots across North America were able to recover much of their lost heritage in the 20th century as Clan societies and highland games sprang up across North America. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Kirts to arrive on North American shores:

Kirt Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Michael Kirt, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1752 [1]

Contemporary Notables of the name Kirt (post 1700) +

  • Kirt Dean Manwaring (b. 1965), American former Major League Baseball catcher
  • Kirt Poovey, American politician, Candidate for Governor of Kansas, 1994, 1998 [2]


  1. 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)
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 25) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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