Origin of the Name Stuart
The origin of the name
Stuart was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Stuart
include Stewart, Steward and Stewardson. Walter Fitz-Alan received from David I the office of High Stewart of Scotland, and was progenitor of the House of Stewart. Alexander the fourth Stewart left two sons, James and Sir John of Bonkyl. From James descended the Royal Stewarts, from Sir John the Bonkyl branch. Walter the sixth Stewart married Princess Marjory Bruce. Their son reigned as Robert II. Until 1808 the Chiefs of Clan Stewart were heads of the Royal House of Stewart.
In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. It was the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that marked the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. While the influx of settlers in the wake of the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.
It is in the Northern Counties as well as in County Dublin that the majority of descendants bearing the name can still today be found.
The Stuart coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Stuart descendants.