Keillor


Keillor is a surname of Scottish origin. It is thought to derive from the Scottish Gaelic word "gu leòr" meaning "sufficient," "enough" or "plenty."

Origin and variants

Keillor is a habitational name derived from a small settlement called "Keillor" in the village of Kettins near the town of Coupar Angus in the council area of Perth and Kinross in northeastern Scotland. Though presently in Perth and Kinross, Keillor, which lies on the border between Perth and Kinross and the council area of Angus, was originally in Angus until the area was transferred to the historic county of Perthshire in 1891.
A very old surname, the first Keillor family lived at Keillor where they had historically held a family seat since well before the Norman Conquest and arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066 A.D. Although originally a Scottish name, it is also historically concentrated in Northern England, most notably in the region of Yorkshire.
tumulus at High Keillor near Keillor in Perth and Kinross
Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Medieval Scottish names, particularly as they were anglicized from the original Gaelic, historically displayed wide variations in recorded spellings as scribes of the era spelled words according to how they sounded rather than any set of rules. This means that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Keillor surname usually have the same origin. Aside from the United Kingdom, variants of the surname can be found today across the English-speaking world, particularly in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario in North America, and in Australia.

Notable people with the surname