The name Stephen or Steven comes from the Greek "Stephanos" which means wreath or garland. The name was used in the Bible,New Testament, but the first to bring the name to Great Britain were the Normans in 1066. Supposedly, a daughter of William the Conquerer was married off to a Scottish Prince. Reputedly, she had spent time at the Court of Hungary where the Patron Saint was St. Stephen, and she named one of her children after the Saint, and as often happened, peasants thereafter named children after popular royal persons, and Stephan and its' variants began. It was a very popular name with the Normans and they spread it rapidly throughout England and then into Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The Steven spelling is more common in Scotland, and Stevenson means "son of "Steven". The name first appeared in old Scottish records as early as 1266 when Ada Stephani was a Burgess of Elgin. Nichol Steven, chaplain of Scotland, had "license to take shipping at London or Dovorre at pleasure in 1372." One of the surveyers of the marshes near Banff in 1388 was John Steywynson. Henricus Stephani had a land charter in Ayr in 1409. The fact that many different areas used the name indicates that it was not a single descent, but that many lines evolved , especially regarding the establishment as a territorial name, e.g. Stevenston (Steven's town), in Ayrshire's Aberdeen, where Stiven became a common name. Other variations included Steenson, Steinson and even Stein despite its Germanic appearance.

Although never unified as a clan with a chief, some Stevensons acquired land holdings and established family lines which helped contribute to the rich history of Scotland. One Stevenson family in Glasgow which prospered in trading with the West Indies and they were the forefathers of a great engineering dynasty. They built over forty lighthouses, harbours, canals and drainage schemes, of which the most famous was the clearing of Edinburgh's Nor' Loch which then became Princes Street Gardens. These same Stevensons accomplished many important engineering projects throughout the world and should have received greater recognition.

Probably the most famous Stevenson was in the literary arts, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), the author of such classics as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He wrote about his family: "From the thirteenth century onwards the name under the various disguises of Stevenstoun, Stevensoun, Stevensonne, Stensone, and Stewinsoune, spread across Scotland from the mouth of the Firth of Forth to the mouth of the Firth of Clyde.

This family, according to tradition is one of the proscribed (outlawed) of the clan MacGregor of Glenorchy, who was born among the willows in a hill-side sheep-pen- 'Son of my Love'. The heir of MacGregor of Glenorchy, murdered about 1353 by the Argyll Campbells, appears to have been the original 'Son of my love'; and his more loyal clanmen took the name to fight under. It may be supposed the story of their resistance became popular, and the name in some sort identifies ithe idea of opposition to the Campbells. Twice afterwards, on some renewed aggression, in 1502 and 1662, we find the clan MacGregor of Glenorchy again banding themselves into a Sept of the 'Son of my Love; and when the great disaster fell on them in 1603 the whole original legend reappears, and we have the heir of Alistair of Glenstrae born 'among the willow' of a fugiitive mother, and the more loyal clanmen again rallying under the name Stevenson. A story would not be told so often unless it had some basis in fact; nor- if there were no bond at all between the "Red" Macgregors and the Stevensons- would that estraneous and somewhat uncouth name be so much repeated in the Legends of the 'Children of the Mist; (the MacGregors). Doubtless, a proscribed clan could not be particular; they took a name as a man takes an umbrella against a shower; as Robert (Rob Roy) MACGREGOR 1671-1734 took Campbell, and his son took Drumond.

But this case is different; as Stevenson was not taken and left- it was consistently adhered to. It does not in the least follow that all Stevensons are of the class Alpin, but it does follow that some may be. I cannot conceal from myself the possibility that Nathaniel Stevenson 1732-1824, my first authentic ancestor, may (therefore) have had a Highland alias upon his conscience and a claymore in his back garden." This legend, if true, indicates that the Stevensons descended from the MacGregors, although some genealogists considered it a fanciful legend indeed, because of the many Stevensons all around the country of Scotland.

Another of Scottish descent was George Stephenson from England who developed steam propulsion. More recently, George Stephen (1829-1921) pioneered the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway and later took the title of Lord Mount Stephen, and had a peak named after him in the Rockies., Elsie Stephenson trained as a nurse and later became an adviser to the World Health Organization, and greatly influenced nursing studies throughout the world. David D. Stevenson was the Scottish Pole Vault Champion ten times and represented Scotland in three successive Commonweath Games. A tartan was designed in the 1970's by the late Jack Dalgetty of Forfar, on of the great scholars of tartan, for Bob Stephenson of Dundee and was based on an old set in the records of Bolinbroke & Jones of Norwich and dated prior to 1870. The tartan is unrestricted and may be worn by all Stevensons and other spelling variations.

The Stevenson Family, a Record of the Descendants of James Stevenson, Burgess of Paisley in 1753, by Hew Shannon Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

Clan Stevenson - www.electricscotland.com