Kerr Family History:  Scottish Kerr surname origins have been attributed to many sources, including the Anglo Saxon name for a fort dweller as well as the Norse word describing a person living near a marsh or a small wood. Life along the Scottish Border in the twelfth century, when surnames came into general use, would have included both. The Kerr surname was found across the lowlands of Scotland and neighboring England as early as the twelfth century. Some early Kerrs of Scotland accompanied the de Bruys family, later called Bruce, during the Norman invasion of England in 1066. The de Bruys family were granted lands in the border region of Scotland and England in return for service and allegiance to William the Conqueror. John Ker of Stobo, Hunter of Swynhope on the de Bruys estates is listed in the Norman land survey of the British Isles in 1190. The Kerr descendants eventually moved from Lancanshire to Roxburgh and became noble families with allegiance to the Scottish and British Kings, gaining titles to Roxburgh, Cessford, Ferniehirst and Floors Castles near Kelso and Jedburgh, Scotland. Ferniehirst Castle, shown above, is currently occupied by the family of Lord Lothian. Floors Castle is still occupied today by the Duke and Duchess of Roxburgh. These Kerr's are often thought to be related to the Le Carre' surname in France. Though their origins may have been with the aboriginal tribes of Scotland who were displaced to the Brittany region of France when the Angeles and Saxons invaded the English Isles.

Spelling of surnames was originally phonetic and inconsistent since literacy became common only in the 18th and 19th centuries, thus recording of surnames has varied since over the generations, leading to the various derivative spellings we see today. Kerrs on the English side of the border often used the anglicized spelling, Carr, which also became prominent amongst Carr's as the Scottish Kerr families migrated into English controlled lands after the expulsion of the Border Reivers from the Scottish lowlands in the 1500's.

The Surname Carr appears in Ireland as an anglicized derivative spelling for several Irish Gaelic Sept names as well as from the Scottish emigration from 1600 on, the Ulster Plantation. Carr was also adopted by German families with phonetically similar names, such as Kehr, to better fit in with their English neighbors in the United States, Australia and other English controlled lands during the 1800's and 1900's.