Forbes is a surname. It derives from the Scottish Clan Forbes (after a toponym, from Gaelic ''forba'' "field"). Descendants of the Scottish clan have also been present in Ireland since the 17th century. The name of an unrelated Irish sept, Mac Fhirbhisigh or MacFirbis, was also anglicised as Forbes.Michael C. O'Laughlin, ''The Book of Irish Families, Great & Small'', 2002
p. 108
Notable people with the surname Forbes include:

Aristocracy

* Clan Forbes, descendants of Alexander de Forbes, 1st Lord Forbes (c. 1380–1448): see Lord Forbes,

Lord Forbes of Pitsligo Lord Forbes of Pitsligo was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created on 24 June 1633 for Alexander Forbes. He was a descendant of Sir William Forbes, brother of Alexander Forbes, 1st Lord Forbes (see the Lord Forbes). In 1746, the fourth ...

. **

Nigel Forbes, 22nd Lord Forbes Nigel Ivan Forbes, 22nd Lord Forbes (19 February 1918 – 5 March 2013), known as the Master of Forbes until 1953, was a Scottish soldier, businessman and Conservative politician. Forbes was the only son of Atholl Laurence Cunyngham Forbe ...

(1918–2013), Scottish soldier, businessman and politician *

Forbes baronets There have been five Baronetcies created for people with the surname Forbes, four in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the Burn Baronetcy of Jessfield, created in the Baronetage of ...

of the Baronetage of Nova Scotia: four distinct baronetcies for people called Forbes: ** Forbes, later Stuart-Forbes, of Monymusk, created 1626 for William Forbes (died c. 1650) *** Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet (1739–1806) ** Forbes, of Castle Forbes, created 1628 for Arthur Forbes (1590–1632): see

Earl of Granard Earl of Granard is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1684 for Arthur Forbes, 1st Viscount Granard. He was a lieutenant-general in the army and served as Marshal of the Army in Ireland after the Restoration and was later Lord ...

. ** Forbes, of Craigievar, created 1630 for William Forbes (died 1648). ***

Sir Ewan Forbes, 11th Baronet Sir Ewan Forbes, 11th Baronet (6 September 1912 – 12 September 1991) was a Scottish nobleman, general practitioner and farmer. Forbes was a trans man; he was christened Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill and officially registered as the youngest daug ...

(1912–1991) **** Isabella Forbes, Lady Forbes (1913-2002), wife of Sir Ewan ** Forbes of Foveran, created 1700 for Samuel Forbes (c. 1663 – 1717), extinct with the death of the 3rd baronet, John Forbes, c. 1760. *

of Newe in the County of Aberdeen, created 1823 for Charles Forbes (1774–1849). **

Hamish Forbes Major Sir Hamish Stewart Forbes, 7th Baronet, MBE, MC, KStJ (15 February 1916 – 3 September 2007) was a British Army officer who served in the Welsh Guards in World War II, spending over five years in German custody as a prisoner of war. In ...

, 7th Baronet (1916–2007)

Artists

Edwin Forbes Edwin Austin Forbes (1839 – March 6, 1895) was an American landscape painter and etcher who first gained fame during the American Civil War for his detailed and dramatic sketches of military subjects, including battlefield combat scenes. ...

(1839–1895), American landscape painter, etcher, and war artist during the American Civil War *

Elizabeth Forbes (artist) Elizabeth Adela Forbes (née Armstrong; 29 December 1859 – 16 March 1912) was a Canadian painter who was primarily active in the UK. She often featured children in her paintings and ''School Is Out'' (painted in Newlyn) is one of her mos ...

(1859–1912), Canadian artist *

Stanhope Forbes Stanhope Alexander Forbes (18 November 1857 – 2 March 1947) was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.Forbes family, a wealthy extended Canadian/American Family descended from John Forbes (1740–1783), an Anglican clergyman of Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, recorded in Milton, Massachusetts, by 1769. ** James Grant Forbes (1879–1955), American businessman **

Robert Pierce Forbes Robert Pierce Forbes (born April 27, 1958) is an American historian specializing in the politics and culture of the early American Republic, and the impact of slavery on the development of American institutions and modern society. Life Robert Pi ...

(born 1958), American historian ** William Cameron Forbes (1870–1959), American investment banker and diplomat, Governor-General of the Philippines (1908–13), US Ambassador to Japan (1930–32) *

George Forbes (businessman) George Robert Forbes (9 October 1944 – 12 October 2022) was a Scottish businessman who was the chairman of Newcastle United Football Club. Biography Forbes grew up on the family farm in Berwickshire. He qualified as a livestock auctioneer and w ...

(1944–2022), businessman *

James Staats Forbes James Staats Forbes (7 March 1823 – 5 April 1904) was a Scottish railway engineer, railway administrator and art collector. He was the uncle of the painter Stanhope Alexander Forbes, and father of the zoologist William Alexander Forbes. Ea ...

(1823–1904) Scottish railway engineer, administrator, businessman and art collector *

John Murray Forbes John Murray Forbes (February 23, 1813 – October 12, 1898) was an American railroad magnate, merchant, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was president of both the Michigan Central railroad and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in ...

(1813–1898), American businessman and philanthropist * Walter Forbes, American executive and convicted fraudster

Musicians

* China Forbes (born 1970), American singer and songwriter * Derek Forbes (born 1956), Scottish singer and musician * Elizabeth Forbes (musicologist) (1924–2014), critic and musicologist * Elliot Forbes (1917–2006), conductor and musicologist *

Kiernan Forbes Kiernan Jarryd Forbes (born 28 January 1988), known professionally as AKA, is a South African rapper. Born and raised in Cape Town, Forbes gained significance after releasing his single "Victory Lap" which was released from his debut studio alb ...

(born 1988), South African hip hop musician *

Watson Forbes Watson Douglas Buchanan Forbes (16 November 1909 in St Andrews – 25 June 1997 in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire) was a Scottish violist and classical music arranger. From 1964 to 1974 he was Head of Music for BBC Scotland. Early life Wats ...

(1909-1997) Scottish musician, viola specialist

Performers and affiliated professions

Brenda Forbes Brenda Forbes (14 January 1909 – 11 September 1996) was a British-born American actress of stage and screen. Personal life Born as Dorothy Brenda Taylor in Wandsworth, London, the daughter of Ernest John and Ethel Louise Taylor. Her m ...

(1909–1996), British-born American actress * Bryan Forbes (1926–2013), English film director, actor and writer * Mary Forbes (1883–1974), British-American actress * Maya Forbes (born 1968), American producer and director * Michelle Forbes (born 1965), American actress * Ralph Forbes (1904–1952), English actor

Politicians

Archie Forbes Archibald Peter Sturrock Forbes CBE (5 May 1913 – 27 January 1999) was a Scottish colonial officer who was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative Development in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). Biography Forbes ...

(1913–1999), Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperative Development in Tanganyika (1960–1963) *

Frederick Augustus Forbes Frederick Augustus Forbes (30 September 1818 – 9 July 1878) was a politician in colonial Queensland and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. Early life Forbes was born on 30 September 1818 in Liverpool, Sydney, New South Wale ...

(1818–1878), Australian politician * George Forbes (New Zealand politician) (1869–1947), Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935 *

George L. Forbes George Lawrence Forbes (born April 4, 1931) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. From 1974 to 1989, Forbes served as president of the Cleveland City Council. He is the former President of the Cleveland NAACP and is semi-retired fr ...

(born 1931), American politician * Jim Forbes (Australian politician) (1923–2019), Australian soldier and politician *

John Murray Forbes (diplomat) John Murray Forbes (1771 – June 14, 1831) was an American diplomat. He served as the Chargé d'Affaires to the Republic of Buenos Aires from 1825 to 1831. Early life John Murray Forbes was born in 1771. Career Forbes served as American consul ...

(1771–1831), American diplomat * Kate Forbes (born 1990), Scottish politician who is currently the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy *

Michael Forbes Michael Patrick Forbes (born July 16, 1952) is an American former politician from the state of New York. Forbes represented a Long Island district in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001, first as a Republican (until 1 ...

(born 1952), American politician *

Muriel Forbes Muriel Rose Forbes (20 April 1894 – 18 April 1991) was a British Labour Party politician and magistrate. Early life Forbes was born on 20 April 1894 to John Cheeseright. She married Charles Gilbert Forbes in 1923, with whom she had two da ...

(1894–1991), British politician * Peter W. Forbes (1850–1923), Canadian-born member of the California legislature *

Randy Forbes James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for , serving from 2001 to 2017. Prior to joining the United States Congress, he was a member of the Virgin ...

(born 1952), American politician in US House of Representatives * William Henry Forbes (1815–1875), American territorial legislator

Publishers

* Forbes family (publishers) **

B. C. Forbes Bertie Charles Forbes (; May 14, 1880 – May 6, 1954) was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who founded ''Forbes'' magazine. Life and career Forbes was born in New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Agnes (Moir) a ...

(1880–1954), founder of ''Forbes'' magazine **

Christopher Forbes Christopher "Kip" Forbes () is vice chairman of the Forbes Publishing company. He attended St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Princeton University. His brother is Steve Forbes, who has made multiple runs for the U.S. preside ...

, Vice-Chairman of the Forbes Publishing Company **

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism ...

(1919–1990), publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, son of B. C. ** Steve Forbes (born 1947), American businessman, current publisher of ''Forbes'' Magazine **

Tim Forbes Timothy C. Forbes () is a member of the Forbes publishing family and the son of Malcolm Forbes. The family owns the ''Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes fam ...

, brother of Steve, also worked for the company

Scientists

* David McHattie Forbes (1863–1937), Scottish botanist and ethnologist in Hawai'i *

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainlan ...

(1815–1854), British naturalist * Fayette F. Forbes (1851-1935), was a water engineer, plant collector, and botanist. *

Francis Blackwell Forbes Francis Blackwell Forbes (August 11, 1839 – May 2, 1908) was an American botanist with expertise in Chinese seed-producing plants who also worked as a merchant and opium trader in Asia. Early life Francis Blackwell Forbes was born in New York ...

(1839–1908), American merchant and botanist in China *

George Forbes (scientist) George Forbes (1849–1936) was a Scottish electrical engineer, astronomer, explorer, author and inventor, some of whose inventions are still in use. Early life Born at 3 Park Place in Edinburgh on 5 April 1849, Forbes was the second son of Ja ...

(1849–1936), scientist * Gregory S. Forbes (born 1950), American meteorologist * Henry Ogg Forbes (1851–1932), British ornithologist, botanist and museum director *

James David Forbes James David Forbes (1809–1868) was a Scottish physicist and glaciologist who worked extensively on the conduction of heat and seismology. Forbes was a resident of Edinburgh for most of his life, educated at its University and a professor ...

(1809–1868), Scottish physicist and glaciologist * John Forbes, (1798-1823), English botanist *

John J. Forbes John J. Forbes (November 21, 1885 – October 17, 1975) was an American mining engineer. He served as the 9th director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Early life and education Forbes was born on November 21, 1885, in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, to Bri ...

(1885–1975), American mining engineer * Stephen Alfred Forbes (1844–1930), American entomologist and ecologist *

William Alexander Forbes William Alexander Forbes (25 June 1855 – 14 January 1883) was an English zoologist. He was the son of James Staats Forbes (1823–1904). Forbes studied natural sciences at St John's College, Cambridge, and later taught at Rhodes College ( ...

(1855–1883), British zoologist *

William Trowbridge Merrifield Forbes William Trowbridge Merrifield Forbes (April 23, 1885 Westborough – April 12, 1968 Worcester) was an American entomologist who specialized in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superor ...

(1885–1968), American entomologist *

John Forbes Nash Jr. John Forbes Nash Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, real algebraic geometry, differential geometry, and partial differential equations. Nash and fellow ga ...

(1928–2015), American mathematician; Economic Science's Nobel Prize awarded in 1994

Sportspeople

Alex Forbes Alexander Rooney Forbes (21 January 1925 – 28 July 2014) was a Scottish football player and manager. Playing career Forbes was born in Dundee. As a teenager he worked in the dockyards and played junior football for Dundee North End. He sig ...

(1925–2014), retired Scottish footballer * Bryn Forbes (born 1993), American basketball player * Drew Forbes (born 1997), American football player * Elizabeth Forbes (athlete) (1910–2002), New Zealand track and field athlete *

Emmanuel Forbes Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (born January 13, 2001) is an American football cornerback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State and holds the FBS record for most career inter ...

(born 2001), American football player * Fred Forbes (1894-after 1933), Scottish footballer * Gary Forbes (born 1985), Panamanian/American basketball player *

Gordon Forbes Gordon Forbes (21 February 1934 – 9 December 2020) was a South African professional tennis player and author. Forbes won the singles title of the South African Championships in 1959 and 1961 and was runner-up in 1955, 1962, 1963 and 1964. H ...

(1934–2020), South African tennis player *

Harry Forbes (boxer) Harry Forbes (May 13, 1879 – December 19, 1946) was an American boxer who took the World Bantamweight Title on November 11, 1901, when he defeated Danny Dougherty in a second-round knockout in Saint Louis, Missouri. He lost the title three year ...

(1879–1946), American boxer * Harry Forbes (rugby league), rugby player *

Ross Forbes Ross Forbes (born 3 March 1989) is a Scottish footballer, currently playing as a midfielder for Scottish League Two club Clyde. Career Motherwell Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Forbes began his football career with Motherwell. In the 2007–08 ...

(born 1989), Scottish footballer who plays for Motherwell * Terrell Forbes (born 1981), British footballer *

W. J. Forbes William James Forbes (August 24, 1874 – June 18, 1900) was an American football and baseball coach. He served as the first ever head football coach at Colorado Agricultural College — now known as Colorado State University — in 1899, compili ...

(1874–1900), American college sports coach

Writers

Archibald Forbes Archibald Forbes (17 April 183830 March 1900) was a Scottish war correspondent. Early life and family He was the son of Very Rev Lewis William Forbes DD (1794–1854), minister of Boharm, Banffshire, and Moderator of the General Assembl ...

(1838–1900), British war correspondent *

Colin Forbes (novelist) Raymond Harold Sawkins (14 July 1923 – 23 August 2006) was a British novelist, who mainly published under the pseudonym Colin Forbes, but also as Richard Raine, Jay Bernard and Harold English. He published only three of his first books under hi ...

, pseudonym of British novelist Raymond Harold Sawkins *

Edith Willis Linn Forbes Edith Willis Linn Forbes (, Willis; after first marriage, Linn; after second marriage, Forbes; pen name, E. W. L.; February 19, 1865 – September 29, 1945) was an American poet and writer. Active in clubs, she founded the Rochester Poetry Societ ...

(1865–1945), American poet and writer *

Esther Forbes Esther Louise Forbes (; June 28, 1891 – August 12, 1967) was an American novelist, historian and children's writer who received the Pulitzer Prize and the Newbery Medal. She was the first woman elected to membership in the American Antiqu ...

(1891–1967), American novelist and children's writer * Lani Forbes (1987–2022), American author of young adult fantasy novels * Mihingarangi Forbes, New Zealand journalist, presenter and radio broadcaster *

Moira Forbes Moira Forbes (born July 19, 1979) is an American journalist and member of the Forbes publishing family. Early life Moira Forbes is the daughter of Steve Forbes, who was a former Republican presidential candidate and the chairman and editor-in-c ...

(born 1979), American journalist

Others

* James Forbes (1749–1819), British traveller and artist *

James A. Forbes James Alexander Forbes, Jr. (born September 6, 1935) is the Senior Minister ''Emeritus'' of the Riverside Church, an interdenominational (American Baptist and United Church of Christ) church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. He ...

, American clergyman *

John Forbes (British Army officer) John Forbes (5 September 1707 – 11 March 1759) was a Scottish professional soldier who served in the British Army from 1729 until his death in 1759. During the 1754 to 1763 French and Indian War, he commanded the 1758 Forbes Expedition t ...

(1707–1759), British general in the French and Indian War *

Sir John Forbes Sir John Forbes Royal College of Physicians, FRCP Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (17 December 1787 – 13 November 1861) was a distinguished Scottish physician, famous for his translation of the classic French medical text ''De L'Auscultation ...

(1925–2021), British admiral *

Kristin Forbes Kristin J. Forbes (born August 21, 1970) is an American economist. She is the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Global Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Early life The eldest of three children, Forbes was raise ...

(born 1970), American economist *

Norman Hay Forbes Norman Hay Forbes of Forbes, FRS, FRSE, FRCSE, JP (1 March 1863-27 June 1916) was a British doctor and academic author, often under the name of Li’mach, the war-cry of the Forbes clan. His writing ranges from therapeutic medicine to Scottish ...

(1863–1916), British doctor and academic *

Rosemary Forbes Kerry Rosemary Isabel Forbes (October 27, 1913 – November 14, 2002) was an American nurse, social activist, and the mother of John Forbes Kerry, the 68th United States Secretary of State and the 2004 Democratic nominee for president of the United St ...

(1913–2002), American activist and mother of John Kerry

Given name

Forbes as a given name is rare, mostly known due to Forbes Burnham (full name ''Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham '', 1923–1985), leader of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

from 1964 until his death. Forbes McAllister is a fictional character (a "cynical restaurant critic") from ''Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge'' (1994).

References

{{given name, type=both Scottish surnames Surnames of Irish origin English-language surnames