Forbes

Forbes has two documented surname histories. In Scotland it is a habitational name from the lands of Forbes in Aberdeenshire. In Ireland it can be a shortened Anglicized form of Mac Fhirbhisigh. These origins are linguistically different, so the shared modern spelling does not show that all Forbes families have one ancestor.

The Scottish Place-Name Origin

The standard Scottish explanation is territorial: a person identified as “of Forbes” took a name from the lands of Forbes in Tullynessle, Aberdeenshire. The Dictionary of American Family Names analyzes the place-name as Gaelic forba, “field” or “district,” with the locative suffix -ais (Forbes entry).

“Field” is therefore an explanation of the underlying place-name, not an occupation and not a claim that the first bearer was a farmer. The surname describes association with a place. It is comparable in formation to other territorial surnames, although that does not make their families related.

The same dictionary records an important pronunciation change. The place-name was pronounced in two syllables, stressed on the second, and the surname formerly followed that pattern; the modern surname is generally pronounced as one syllable. That older pronunciation helps explain later spellings such as Forbis and Forbus, rather than requiring a different meaning.

What the Medieval Evidence Shows

Early accounts need qualification because the evidence is not equally secure. In The Scots Peerage, James Balfour Paul reported that Duncan Forbeys received the holding of Forbeys in a charter attributed to Alexander III, traditionally dated about 1271. Paul also explained that the charter was known through later descriptions and had already been mislaid by 1730. It should therefore be described as a reported lost charter, not as an extant document that can now be checked (*The Scots Peerage*, volume 4, pp. 42–44).

Paul found firmer evidence for a John Forbes or Forbees in an English roll of about 1306 concerning forfeited Scottish lands, though the lands were not located in that record. He also noted that this John might have been the John de Fernboys who rendered homage in 1295–96, but did not treat the identification as certain. George F. Black's later surname dictionary records further historical forms including Forbace, Fobess, Forbas, Forbose, Forebess, and Forbss (*The Surnames of Scotland*).

These records establish medieval and early-modern use of the name and its variable spelling. They do not establish that every present-day Forbes descends from Duncan, John, the Lords Forbes, or any other documented bearer.

The Independent Irish Origin

In an Irish context, Forbes can represent Mac Fhirbhisigh, “son of Fearbhisigh.” The cited surname dictionary analyzes the personal name Fearbhisigh from elements meaning “man” and “prosperity.” This is a patronymic origin, unlike the Scottish habitational origin.

The Mac Fhirbhisigh were a learned family in Connacht, particularly associated with historical and genealogical manuscripts. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies describes Gilla Ísu Mac Fir Bisig working with Adam Ó Cuirnín and Murchad Riabach Ó Cuindlis on the Book of Lecan; scribal evidence places the work around 1417–18 (Irish Script on Screen, RIA MS 23 P 2). Its contents include genealogical, historical, legal, linguistic, and hagiographical material.

A later member of the learned family, Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, compiled the separate Leabhar na nGenealach or Great Book of Irish Genealogies in Galway, probably between 1645 and 1666. University College Dublin identifies the surviving manuscript as Additional MS 14 and describes Dubhaltach as an Irish scribe, historian, and genealogist (UCD Special Collections). The Book of Lecan and the Great Book of Irish Genealogies are therefore related to the same learned-family tradition but are not the same work.

An Irish Forbes record cannot be assigned automatically to Mac Fhirbhisigh, just as it cannot be assigned automatically to a Scottish Forbes branch. The locality, earlier spellings, relatives, and surviving documents must decide which history applies.

Spellings and Related Forms

Historically documented spellings include:

• Forbees and the uncertain Fernboys in records discussed by Paul
• Forbace, Fobess, Forbas, Forbose, Forebess, and Forbss in Black's dictionary
• Mac Fhirbhisigh and Mac Firbis in the Irish learned-family tradition

Forbis and Forbus are recognized altered forms of Scottish Forbes that preserve the effect of its older two-syllable pronunciation (Forbis; Forbus). Forbush can also be an altered Scottish Forbes, but the surname dictionary gives it a separate possible German origin from Vorbusch; spelling resemblance alone is not enough to merge every Forbush line with Forbes (Forbush).

The Bear Story Is a Legend

Clan tradition tells of a figure called Ochoncar or Ochonocar who killed a bear and was rewarded with land. The Clan Forbes Society itself labels this a family legend and says that it has no basis in surviving written records, while also explaining its connection with bear imagery in Forbes heraldry (Clan Forbes Society, “Origins of the House of Forbes”). It is useful as later clan tradition, not as a linguistic derivation or proof of descent.

The reference-dictionary explanation remains the Scottish place-name analysis from Gaelic forba plus -ais. Neither “for bear” nor a bear-slayer's personal name is needed to explain the documented territorial surname.

Etymology Is Not Genealogy

For a Scottish line, evidence connecting generations to Aberdeenshire or the lands of Forbes may support the habitational explanation; the surname by itself does not confer a link to a titled or chiefly branch. For an Irish line, early forms resembling Mac Fhirbhisigh, together with Connacht or Sligo context, may support the independent Irish origin. In either case, a meaning explains how a surname could arise. It does not supply a family tree.

References

• Patrick Hanks, ed., Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, 2003, “Forbes” entry, reproduced by FamilySearch.
• George F. Black, The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York Public Library, 1946, “Forbes” entry (Google Books record).
• Sir James Balfour Paul, ed., The Scots Peerage, volume 4, David Douglas, 1907, pp. 42–44 (digitized volume).
• Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Irish Script on Screen, RIA MS 23 P 2, *The Book of Lecan*, manuscript description and digital facsimile.
• University College Dublin Special Collections, *Leabhar na nGenealach* or *The Great Book of Irish Genealogies*, Additional MS 14, collection description.
• Clan Forbes Society, “Origins of the House of Forbes”, consulted for the documented status of the bear story as clan legend, not for the linguistic etymology.