Show ContentsLockheart History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Lockheart is an ancient Dalriadan-Scottish nickname for a person who was brave. Lockheart 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 Lockheart comes from the words loc and hardy, which mean lock and brave or hardy.

Early Origins of the Lockheart family

The surname Lockheart was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow, where this distinguished family acquired the estates of Carnwath, Cleghorn, Birkhill, Kirktoun, and Leigh.

The Lockharts of Leigh 1 trace their descent from Sir Simon Locard whose name some claim was derived from the territorial name "de Loch Ard." The family estate was centered at Lee Castle, originally built c. 1272 and was expanded in the 19th century.

Sir Simon Locard accompanied Sir James Douglas on his expedition with the heart of Robert the Bruce, which after Douglas' death brought home from Spain and buried in Melrose Abbey. This incident was the reason of the Arms' "man's heart within a fetterlock."

The Flockhart variant occurs "as Fluckart in Edinburgh, 1679" and "Robert Flockhart, 'Daddy Flockhart' (1777-1857), [was] a street preacher in Edinburgh." 2

Early History of the Lockheart family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lockheart research. Another 108 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1621, 1630, 1646, 1652, 1658, 1674, 1675, 1685, 1686, 1689 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Lockheart History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lockheart Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. Lockheart has been written as Lockhart, Lockhard, Locard, Lockard, Lockheart and many more.

Early Notables of the Lockheart family

Notable amongst the family at this time was George Lockhart of Tarbrax (died 1658), Commissioner of Glasgow in the Parliament of Scotland (1646-1658); Sir James Lockhart of Lee (d. 1674), lord of the Court of Session, he held the judicial title Lord Lee; Sir William Lockhart of Lee (1621-1675)...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lockheart Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Lockheart family to Ireland

Some of the Lockheart family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Lockheart migration to the United States +

Dalriadan families proliferated in North America. Their descendants still populate many communities in the eastern parts of both the United States and Canada. Some settled in Canada as United Empire Loyalists, in the wake of the American War of Independence. Families on both sides of the border have recovered much of their heritage in the 20th century through Clan societies and highland games. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Lockheart or a variant listed above:

Lockheart Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Penelope Lockheart, who arrived in Virginia in 1700 3


The Lockheart 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: Corda serata pando
Motto Translation: I lay open locked hearts.


  1. Lee, Sir Stanley, Dictionary of National Biography. London: The MacMillan Company 1909. 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)


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