Buckie - Name

Recorded as Buckie and Bucky, this is a rare Scottish surname, It is understood to be locational and to originate from the fishing town of Buckie west of Aberdeen, and in the old county of Banffshire. The surname is sometimes confused and overlaps with the similar name of Buckney, in Linlithgow. In both cases the place name probably derives from the Olde English and Gaelic pre 7th century words 'bucc - eg' or perhaps 'bucc atten eg', which may mean 'Deer Island' or possibly 'Bucca's Island' with Bucca being an early personal name, which does actually mean 'Buck'. The island ( eg) may not have literally meant an island surrounded by water, it may have just described a dry or drained area, or more likely apiece of land that was above the normal landscape. Locational surnames as well tended to be 'from' names. that is to say names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else. If they did not already possess a clan name or a skilled name such as Smith or Taylor for example, the easiest method of identification was to call them after their village. Spelling being at best erratic, lead to the development of 'sounds like' spellings. In this case the earliest known recording is that of Gawin Buckie of Kincaid in Stirlingshire, in the year 1613, whilst Patrick Buckney was burgess of Linlithgow, in 1684.