Clan Rose

Of Kilravock, Norman roots in the Highlands.

Origin: The Highlands & Islands, Scotland
Motto: Constant and true
Famous bearer: Sir Hugh Rose, Field Marshal of the Indian Mutiny
Register: Scottish clan

Territory of Rose

The seat of Clan Rose

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Clan Rose 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 Rose has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Rose 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 Rose clan →

Motto

Constant and true

What does the Rose name mean?

Norman in origin, settled in Scotland after a brief sojourn in England. The chief branch is the Roses of Kilravock.

The history of Clan Rose

The chief branch is the Roses of Kilravock, recorded at Inverness in the 13th century; the charter confirming the Barony of Kilravock dates from 1293. The family is Norman in origin, settling in Scotland after a brief period in England.

The Roses supported Robert the Bruce, and Sir William Rose captured Invernairn Castle for him in 1306 during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Kilravock Castle was built by Hugh Rose, 7th Laird, in 1460.

During the Jacobite Rising the Rose chief sided with the British government. Sir Hugh Rose (1803–1885) commanded the Central Field Force during the Indian Mutiny, capturing 150 pieces of artillery, twenty forts, and a string of strongholds, credited with saving Britain's Indian Empire.

Champions of the Rose name

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

Sir Hugh Rose
The Berlin-born British officer who distinguished himself with the Egyptian army in Syria, served as senior British commissioner to the French in the Crimea, broke the central-Indian arm of the 1857 rebellion in eight months, and finished as Commander-in-Chief in India and in Ireland.

Historic Places, Rebuilt

Explore the streets and seats the Rose name knew, rebuilt with AI as they stood in history.

Or recreate your own castle →

Historic Places, Rebuilt · New

Explore Inverness in 1745Enter →

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

Historic Places, Rebuilt · New

Explore Urquhart Castle in 1509Enter →

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

Castles the Rose held

Strongholds this name held for a decade or more, look one up, or rebuild it to explore.

Kilravock Castle
Seat of Clan Rose from c. 1460 until the castle was transferred to a charitable trust in 1984.

The castles of the homeland

The great strongholds of the homeland, look one up, see what it looked like in its prime, and recreate it to explore.

Edinburgh CastleRestored · prime 1520

Stirling CastleRestored · prime 1542

Glamis CastleStill standing · prime 1900

All castles in Scotland → · Strongest castles in Scotland → · Castles of Europe

Play As Your Clan

Explore history as a RoseStart your story →

Pick any year from 500 to 1945 and any place on earth, the Rose country, or a shore no Rose ever reached. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.

Notable bearers of the Rose name

Sir Hugh Rose, Field Marshal of the Indian Mutiny
Justin Rose (b. 1980), English-South African professional golfer; 2013 US Open Champion; Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016

Stories of Clan Rose

Justin Rose wins the US Open at Merion
2013
On the late afternoon of Father's Day, Sunday the sixteenth of June 2013, on the East Course of the Merion Golf Club in the Ardmore suburb west of Philadelphia, the thirty-two-year-old Johannesburg-born English professional golfer Justin Peter Rose, on the closing-eighteenth-hole approach-shot of the final round of the 113th United States Open Championship, struck the perfect 4-iron approach-shot from the difficult downhill 228-yards-out fairway lie to the elevated eighteenth-hole green, the two-putt-from-fifteen-feet par that closed the fourth-round-of-74 for the final score of one-over-par 281 across the four-round 72-hole tournament, and, aided by the late-Sunday two-stroke leaderboard-collapse of the second-place Phil Mickelson and the third-place Jason Day across the closing-back-nine, took the 113th United States Open Championship at Merion by two strokes. The US Open win was the first major-championship-win of Rose's career and the first United-States-Open victory by an English-born player since the Tony Jacklin victory at Hazeltine National Golf Club in 1970 (the 43-year English-male-major-drought that the English-and-British golf-press had run as the decade-by-decade golf-narrative across the 1970-to-2013 period). Rose extended the 2013 US Open major-championship-win across the subsequent decade-of-his-career with the 2014 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, the 2015 Olympic Gold Medal at the Rio Olympics 2016 (the first Olympic-Gold-Medal in golf since the 1904 St Louis Games on the 112-year golf-Olympic-readmission to the Olympic programme), and the 10-year continuous PGA-Tour-top-25-world-ranking from the 2013 US Open victory to his 2024 Open-Championship runner-up finish at Royal Troon.
Read the story →

Frequently asked

What does the surname Rose mean?

Norman in origin, settled in Scotland after a brief sojourn in England. The chief branch is the Roses of Kilravock. The chief branch is the Roses of Kilravock, recorded at Inverness in the 13th century; the charter confirming the Barony of Kilravock dates from 1293.

Where does the Rose family come from?

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

Is Rose Scottish or Irish?

Rose is a Scottish surname; its home on this atlas is Scotland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated. The same or similar spellings can surface in Irish records, but the lineage documented on this page is the Scottish one.

How old is the Rose surname?

The chief branch is the Roses of Kilravock, recorded at Inverness in the 13th century; the charter confirming the Barony of Kilravock dates from 1293. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Rose name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Rose family known for?

Of Kilravock, Norman roots in the Highlands. The chief branch is the Roses of Kilravock, recorded at Inverness in the 13th century; the charter confirming the Barony of Kilravock dates from 1293.

What is the Rose motto?

The motto of the Rose family is "Constant and true". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

Is there a Rose family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single coat of arms that belongs to everyone named Rose. Heraldic arms were granted to individuals and descend through specific documented lines, so a "family crest" matched to a surname alone is decorative rather than genealogical. In Scots heraldry the convention is different again: clansfolk wear the chief's crest inside a strap-and-buckle badge, the crest stays the chief's property, worn in allegiance rather than owned. The motto associated with the principal line is "Constant and true".

Who is the most famous Rose?

The best-known bearer of the Rose name is Sir Hugh Rose, Field Marshal of the Indian Mutiny. Other prominent figures of the family include Justin Rose (b. 1980), English-South African professional golfer; 2013 US Open Champion; Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016.

Who are some famous Roses?

Notable bearers of the Rose name include Sir Hugh Rose, Field Marshal of the Indian Mutiny and Justin Rose (b. 1980), English-South African professional golfer; 2013 US Open Champion; Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016. 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 Rose family?

The Rose family is associated with Justin Rose wins the US Open at Merion. 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 Justin Rose wins the US Open at Merion?

On the late afternoon of Father's Day, Sunday the sixteenth of June 2013, on the East Course of the Merion Golf Club in the Ardmore suburb west of Philadelphia, the thirty-two-year-old Johannesburg-born English professional golfer Justin Peter Rose, on the closing-eighteenth-hole approach-shot of the final round of the 113th United States Open Championship, struck the perfect 4-iron approach-shot from the difficult downhill 228-yards-out fairway lie to the elevated eighteenth-hole green, the two-putt-from-fifteen-feet par that closed the fourth-round-of-74 for the final score of one-over-par 281 across the four-round 72-hole tournament, and, aided by the late-Sunday two-stroke leaderboard-collapse of the second-place Phil Mickelson and the third-place Jason Day across the closing-back-nine, took the 113th United States Open Championship at Merion by two strokes. The US Open win was the first major-championship-win of Rose's career and the first United-States-Open victory by an English-born player since the Tony Jacklin victory at Hazeltine National Golf Club in 1970 (the 43-year English-male-major-drought that the English-and-British golf-press had run as the decade-by-decade golf-narrative across the 1970-to-2013 period). The event is dated to 2013.

Where is the Rose surname found today?

Scotland is the primary historical home of the Rose 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 Rose family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Rose family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories 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 Rose family today?

The seat for the head of the Rose 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.