Clan Fraser

Of Lovat, 'I am ready'.

Origin: The Highlands & Islands, Scotland
Motto: Je suis prest
Famous bearer: Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat
Register: Scottish clan

Territory of Fraser

The seat of Clan Fraser

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Clan Fraser community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Clan Fraser has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Fraser clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Fraser clan →

Motto

Je suis prest

“I am ready”

What does the Fraser name mean?

From the Old French 'fraisier', strawberry plant, surviving on the family arms as a fraise. Anglo-Norman in origin, settling in Scotland in the 12th century.

The history of Clan Fraser

The Frasers are of Anglo-Norman origin, settling in Scotland in the 12th century. Two principal branches developed: the Frasers of Philorth, who became Lord Saltoun, and the Frasers of Lovat, the Highland clan based in Inverness-shire.

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (c.1667–1747), played a famously duplicitous role through the Jacobite period. He was eventually executed on Tower Hill for his part in the 1745 Rising, the last man beheaded in Britain.

The clan rebuilt in the following generations, with Simon Fraser of Lovat raising the 78th Fraser Highlanders, who fought at Quebec under Wolfe and helped open Canada to British settlement.

Champions of the Fraser name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Peter Fraser
The Highland-born Prime Minister who led New Zealand through the Second World War and helped found the United Nations.

Step Into History

Walk the streets and seats the Fraser name knew — a photoreal walk through time, on foot.

Step Into History · New

Walk Inverness in 1745Enter →

The old castle above the River Ness, the market cross and the seven-arched bridge — on the eve of Culloden.

Step Into History · New

Walk Urquhart Castle in 1509Enter →

The great castle guarding the Great Glen, newly granted to the Grants of Freuchie, whole above Loch Ness.

Notable bearers of the Fraser name

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat
Simon Fraser of Lovat, raiser of the 78th Highlanders

Stories of Clan Fraser

The last beheading on Tower Hill
1747
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was perhaps the most duplicitous magnate of his age. Born around 1667, exiled, made and unmade a Catholic and a Protestant, he had played both sides of every Jacobite crisis since 1690. He abducted his cousin's widow at sword-point and forced a marriage to secure the Lovat title. He spied for the British government and the exiled Stuart court alternately, sometimes simultaneously. In 1745 he had his son raise the Fraser clan for Bonnie Prince Charlie under his orders while himself pretending loyalty to King George. He was eighty when the soldiers found him in a hollow tree on an island in Loch Morar after Culloden. The execution at Tower Hill that closed his life was the last beheading carried out in Britain.
Read the story →

Frequently asked

What does the surname Fraser mean?

From the Old French 'fraisier', strawberry plant, surviving on the family arms as a fraise. Anglo-Norman in origin, settling in Scotland in the 12th century. The Frasers are of Anglo-Norman origin, settling in Scotland in the 12th century.

Where does the Fraser family come from?

The Fraser family is rooted in The Highlands & Islands, in Scotland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Inverness & the Aird. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Is Fraser a Scotland surname?

Yes, Fraser is a Scotland surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Scotland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Fraser surname?

The Frasers are of Anglo-Norman origin, settling in Scotland in the 12th century. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Fraser name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Fraser family known for?

Of Lovat, 'I am ready'. The Frasers are of Anglo-Norman origin, settling in Scotland in the 12th century.

What is the Fraser motto?

The motto of the Fraser family is "Je suis prest", which translates as "I am ready". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

What does "Je suis prest" mean in English?

"Je suis prest" is the motto of the Fraser family. In English it means "I am ready". The phrase is typically rendered in Latin, though some Highland families carry their motto in Gaelic and some Norman lines in Old French.

Who is the most famous Fraser?

The best-known bearer of the Fraser name is Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat. Other prominent figures of the family include Simon Fraser of Lovat, raiser of the 78th Highlanders.

Who are some famous Frasers?

Notable bearers of the Fraser name include Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat and Simon Fraser of Lovat, raiser of the 78th Highlanders. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Fraser family?

The Fraser family is associated with The last beheading on Tower Hill. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of the last beheading on Tower Hill?

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was perhaps the most duplicitous magnate of his age. Born around 1667, exiled, made and unmade a Catholic and a Protestant, he had played both sides of every Jacobite crisis since 1690. The event is dated to 1747.

Who were the Fraser family's allies?

Historical allies of the Fraser family include Clan Stewart. Alliances were sealed by marriage, bond of manrent, fosterage, or shared confederation, and were as load-bearing in family history as the rivalries on the other side of the ledger.

Where is the Fraser surname found today?

Scotland is the primary historical home of the Fraser surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Scotland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Fraser family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Fraser family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories, historical rivals and allies and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Scotland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Fraser family today?

The seat for the head of the Fraser family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.

Rivals and allies

Allies

Clan StewartFrom High Stewards to the throne, the royal name of Scotland.