Buie
A surname found in Scotland and Ireland, probably tied to a nickname or place-name meaning “yellow” or “fair.”
The #5,816 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 51,951 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually linked to a descriptive byname from the Gaelic word for “yellow” or “fair,” often written with forms like buidhe. In Scottish and Manx place-names, related forms appear in names meaning “yellow moor,” “yellow farm,” or “yellow tops,” which suggests the same color word could also lie behind some surname examples. Because the historical record shows several different spellings and possible regional pathways, the exact source of every family line called Buie is not always certain.
History
The name appears in Scottish records by the early 1600s, and later evidence shows it as a surname in both Scotland and Irish-Gaelic contexts. In modern usage it is relatively uncommon, but it has persisted in the Scottish diaspora, especially in North America. The spelling Buie may also reflect local pronunciation or later Anglicization of an older Gaelic form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Manx place-names preserved in antiquarian sources use the same yellow-color word in phrases like “Yellow Moor” and “Yellow Tops,” showing how deeply this old Gaelic term entered local geography.
From the historical record
“Boel ; Dch. Boll, Boel, Bull ; D. Bull, Bolle, Boelle ; p.n. (a bull) Richard Bole and Radulph Buie in Rot. Obi. et Fin., K. John. Prot. ref. n., Lond. 1618. Bullen. From Bologne. Fr I”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)