With ancient roots in both the Lowlands and the Highlands, bearers of the Orr name appear at an early date in the Scottish historical record.
• Ancestors of the Orr name today may well have originally gone under the name of ‘MacGregor’, because ‘Orr’ was one of the names adopted by the MacGregors when the clan was outlawed and even their proud name banned.
• In more peaceful times, John Boyd-Orr, born in 1880 near Kilmarnock, was the eminent Scottish doctor, biologist, nutritionist and leading campaigner for more equitable food distribution throughout the world who was the recipient of the 1949 Nobel Peace Prize.
