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Surname Etymology and Meaning of ARGYLE

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

(origin: Gaelic.) An extensive shire on the western coast of Scotland. The name is derived from the Gaelic Earra Ghaidheal, that is, the country of the western Gael, or, according to Grant, the breeding-place of the Gael.

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).

Scottish: from the regional name Argyll, a county of southwestern Scotland, named in Gaelic as Earre Ghàidheal ‘coast of the Gaels’. Argyll was the earliest part of Scotland to be settled by Gaelic speakers from Ireland from the 6th century onwards. The origin of Argyle as a surname owes more to its use to denote retainers of the powerful and influential earls and dukes of Argyll, heads of Clan Campbell, than to use as a habitational name.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)