Fairrie

This picturesque and interesting name is of medieval Scottish origin, and it is thought that it may be from the Gaelic 'O'Fearadhaigh', which translates as the 'descendant of Fearadhach', a personal name of uncertain origin. A family named Farie of Farme is said to have been settled in the parish of Rutherglen, for about six hundred years, and a local rhyme says: 'Nae man can tell, nae man has seen When the Faries haena in Ruglen been'. The first recorded namebearer (see below) has a seal described as follows: 'his seal bears a wolf or fox, crozier in paw and mitred, preaching to bird in tree, a dog and rabbit'. The following examples illustrate the name development: Laurencius Fary (1523), William Fairy (1586), Helen Fairie (1623) and in Ayrshire one Marton Fairrie was christened on February 21st 1664, and in Irvine, Ayrshire, the christening of Alexander Fairrie took place on August 9th 1775. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Rauf Faireye, which was dated 1296, Ayrshire, Scotland, during the reign of King John Balliol of Scotland, 1292-1296. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.