Clan Sutherland
also Clan Sutherland
Sudr-land — the southern land of the Norse, and the clan that took its name.
CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Clan Sutherland
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Clan Sutherland.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
The pledge surface for chiefdoms and missions is being built. Until it ships, register your name through the submit form.
Stake your name →Motto
Sans peur
— Without fear
What does the Sutherland name mean?
From Sudr-land — Old Norse for 'southern land', the name the Norse of Caithness gave to the territory south of their own lands. The county and the clan derive directly from the Norse usage, retained when the territory passed under Scottish royal control in the 13th century. The Sutherlands of Sutherland descend from Hugh of Sutherland (d. before 1248); the Earldom of Sutherland was created c.1235 for William of Sutherland and is among the oldest peerages in Scotland.
The history of Clan Sutherland
The Earldom of Sutherland is the oldest of the Highland earldoms, dating from c.1235, and was the dominant power in the far north for most of the late mediaeval and early modern period — almost continuously in tension with the Mackays of Strathnaver to the west. Through the 16th century the earldom passed by marriage to the Gordon family, and in 1766 it passed by inheritance to Elizabeth Sutherland, suo jure 19th Countess of Sutherland, whose marriage to George Granville Leveson-Gower (later 1st Duke of Sutherland) brought the earldom into the highest reaches of English wealth.
The Sutherland Clearances of 1814–1820 are the central historical fact of the modern surname. Patrick Sellar and James Loch, factors to the Countess-Duchess Elizabeth, evicted between 6,000 and 10,000 Sutherland tenants from the inland straths to coastal lots and emigration berths, replacing the small tenants with Cheviot sheep. Donald Sutherland (1935–2024), the Saint John, New Brunswick-born actor of M*A*S*H, Klute and The Hunger Games, was Canadian-Scottish; his son Kiefer Sutherland (b. 1966) extended the line into 24 and Designated Survivor. Dame Joan Sutherland (1926–2010), 'La Stupenda', was the foremost Australian operatic soprano of the 20th century.
Notable bearers of the Sutherland name
- Donald Sutherland (1935–2024) — actor (M*A*S*H, Klute, The Hunger Games)
- Kiefer Sutherland (b. 1966) — actor (24, Designated Survivor)
- Dame Joan Sutherland (1926–2010) — Australian operatic soprano
- Graham Sutherland (1903–1980) — English painter