Hepburn is a family name of the

Anglo-Scottish border The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands". The ...

, that is associated with a variety of notable people,

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

s, places, and things. Although commonly a Scottish name, its origins lie to the south of the border in the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Specifically, the name is thought to have derived from Hepburn or

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sout ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

. The origins of the name are suggested to be the same as that of Hebborne from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

words ''heah'' ("high") and ''byrgen'' ("burial mound"). Alternatively it could mean something along the lines of "high place beside the water", as the word ''burn'' is a still widely used in Northumbrian and Scots for ''stream''. Next to

Chillingham Castle Chillingham Castle is a medieval castle in the village of Chillingham in the northern part of Northumberland, England. It was the seat of the Grey and Bennett (later Earls of Tankerville) families from the 15th century until the 1980s, when it b ...

there remains a bastle tower where the family originated. This was the seat of a line of the family until the eighteenth century when that branch died out, having left only a female heir. However, it is as the

Earls of Bothwell Earl of Bothwell was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. It was first created for Patrick Hepburn in 1488, and was forfeited in 1567. Subsequently, the earldom was re-created for the 4th Earl's nephew and heir of line, F ...

that the Hepburn family are perhaps best remembered. This branch of the family originated in Lothian when a Hepburn was granted land having saved the

Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales ( Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Mar ...

from a horse that had lost control. This family first became the Lords of Hailes before being granted the

Earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...

of Bothwell. There were also Hepburns of Waughton, thought by some to have branched off from the Hailes line, thought by others to predate it. Another line was the Hepburns of Beanston, and yet another was the Hepburns of

Athelstaneford Athelstaneford () is a village in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies almost 6 kilometres (3.5 mi) north-east of the market town of Haddington and about 28 kilometres (17 mi) east of Edinburgh. Battle of Athelstaneford According to popul ...

. All of these families were prominent in various ways at various junctures of Scottish history, but all were primarily located around the East Lothian area.

Scottish nobles

* Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord of Hailes (died 1483) *

Adam Hepburn, Master of Hailes Adam Hepburn, Master of Hailes (after 1432 – 1479) was Sheriff of Berwickshire in April 1467, and had a charter of confirmation of Dunsyre in the sheriffdom of Lanarkshire, dated 13 October 1475, being thereafter designated 'of Dunsyre'. Family ...

(died 1479), son of Patrick, 1st Lord of Hailes *

Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell (died 18 October 1508) was Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He rose to political prominence after supporting James IV against his father, and was proxy at the King's marriage. Career Patrick was the son of Adam ...

(died 1508), son of Adam, Master of Hailes * Adam Hepburn of Craggis (died 1513), son of Adam, Master of Hailes * George Hepburn (bishop) (died 1513), son of Adam, Master of Hailes * Adam Hepburn, 2nd Earl of Bothwell (died 1513), son of Patrick, 1st Earl of Bothwell *

Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

(1512–1556), son of Adam, 2nd Earl of Bothwell *

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney and 4th Earl of Bothwell ( – 14 April 1578), better known simply as Lord Bothwell, was a prominent Scottish nobleman. He was known for his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third and final husband ...

(c. 1534–1578), son of Patrick, 3rd Earl of Bothwell, and husband of Mary, Queen of Scots * James Hepburn (bishop) (died 1524), Scottish prelate and administrator * Francis Stewart Hepburn, 5th Earl of Bothwell (before 1563–1612), nephew of James, 4th Earl of Bothwell

Politics

A. Barton Hepburn Alonzo Barton Hepburn (July 24, 1846 – January 25, 1922) was an American politician from New York, famed for being the Chairman of the New York State Legislature's eponymous Hepburn Committee of 1879 that investigated the operations of what b ...

(1846–1922), American banker and politician * Bernard Rickart Hepburn (1876–1939), member of the Canadian House of Commons * James de Congalton Hepburn ( fl. 1940s), Speaker of the Ontario (Canada) Legislature * Jamie Hepburn (born 1979), member of the Scottish Parliament *

Mitchell Hepburn Mitchell Frederick Hepburn (August 12, 1896 – January 5, 1953) was the 11th premier of Ontario, from 1934 to 1942. He was the youngest premier in Ontario history, appointed at age 37. He was the only Ontario Liberal Party leader in the 20th cent ...

(1896–1953), Premier of Ontario, Canada * Moses Hepburn (1832–1897), American politician and businessman *

Patrick Buchan-Hepburn Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes, (2 April 1901 – 5 November 1974) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and the only Governor-General of the West Indies Federation, Governor-General of the short ...

(1901–1974), Scottish politician * Robert Rickart Hepburn Member of Parliament for Kincardineshire 1768–1774 * Stephen Hepburn (born 1959), English Member of Parliament *

William Peters Hepburn William Peters Hepburn (November 4, 1833 – February 7, 1916) was an American Civil War officer and an eleven-term Republican congressman from Iowa's now-obsolete 8th congressional district, serving from 1881 to 1887, and from 1893 to 1909. ...

(1833–1916), American congressman for Iowa, author of the Hepburn Act of 1906

Academia

* Alexa Hepburn, English social psychologists * Andrew Dousa Hepburn (1830–1921), president of Miami University and Davidson College * Charles A. Hepburn (born 1891–1971), Scottish businessman and philanthropist * Ian Hepburn (190274), British schoolmaster, botanist, ecologist and author * James Hepburn (1811–1869), British ornithologist * James Bonaventure Hepburn (1573–1620), Scottish Catholic scholar *

James Curtis Hepburn James Curtis Hepburn (; March 13, 1815 – September 21, 1911) was an American physician, translator, educator, and lay Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into ...

(1815–1911), American linguist, devised a romanization system for Japanese

Arts and entertainment

* Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003), American actress *

Kathleen Hepburn Kathleen Hepburn is a Canadian screenwriter and film director. She first attracted acclaim for her film ''Never Steady, Never Still'', which premiered as a short film in 2015 before being expanded into her feature film debut in 2017.

, Canadian screenwriter and film director * Audrey Hepburn (nee Ruston) (1929–1993), Belgian-born British actress *

Barton Hepburn Barton Hepburn (February 28, 1906 – October 9, 1955) was an American actor who specialized in drama and comedy. Early life Hepburn was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was heir to a New York banking fortune. He was a son of Charles Fi ...

(1906–1955), American actor *

Dee Hepburn Dee Hepburn (born 7 November 1961) is a Scottish former actress. She starred as Dorothy in the 1981 film ''Gregory's Girl'', and played Anne-Marie Wade in the ITV soap opera ''Crossroads'' from 1985 to 1988. Early life Hepburn grew up in Cald ...

(born 1961), Scottish actress *

Alex Hepburn Alex Hepburn is an English singer and songwriter. She has released two studio albums, ''Together Alone'' (2013) and ''Things I've Seen'' (2019). Career Hepburn released her eponymous debut EP in June 2012. In April 2013, she released her debu ...

(born 1986), British singer

Sports

* Craig Hepburn (born 1969), Bahamian long-jumper *

Doug Hepburn Douglas Ivan Hepburn (September 16, 1926 – November 22, 2000) was a Canadian strongman and weightlifter. He won weightlifting gold medals in the 1953 World Weightlifting Championships as well as the 1954 British Empire Games in the heavyweigh ...

(1926–2000), Canadian weightlifter * James Hepburn (1876–1945), Scottish-American professional golfer *

Michael Hepburn Michael Hepburn (born 17 August 1991) is an Australian track and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is a two-time Olympics silver medalist. From Brisbane, Hepburn started competitively cycling at 14 years of age after mak ...

(born 1991), Australian track and road cyclist *

Ralph Hepburn Ralph R. Hepburn (April 11, 1896 – May 16, 1948) was a pioneer American motorcycle racing champion and an Indianapolis 500 racecar driver. Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, Hepburn's family moved to Los Angeles, California when he was ten ...

(1896–1948), American motorcycle and racecar driver * Ross Hepburn (born 1972), Scottish curler

Military

* Allan Hepburn (1896–1975), Australian World War I flying ace *

Arthur Japy Hepburn Arthur Japy Hepburn (October 15, 1877 – May 31, 1964) was an admiral in the United States Navy, whose active-duty career included service in the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II. He held a number of high posts in the year ...

(1877–1964), US Navy Admiral * Sir John Hepburn (c. 1598–1636), Scottish soldier, fought for Sweden and France

Trade Unions

* Thomas Hepburn (c. 1795–1864), English miner and union founder

References

External links

The Hepburn Family

Hepburns of Donegal (county of Ireland)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepburn (Surname) Surnames English-language surnames Scottish surnames Surnames of Lowland Scottish origin Northumbria