DeForrests In Scotland?

[mrwatson]

Has anyone seen a record for DeForrest, De Forrest, DeForest in Scotland? Was there ever a region called Forrest, Forest...?

Thanks for your reply.

[Polwarth]

It's not a name I've ever come across - but a quick google seems to suggest that the name is English (or probably Norman) in origin. doesn't mean that a DeForrest didn't settle in Scotland, though!

There is a Forres in Morayshire.

[mrwatson]

Yes I agree Norman is the likely root. My GG grandfather John Charles Watson used the name DeForrest in marriage July 6, 1864. Answered U.S. Census workers as Watson for 1870, 1880, 1900. Journals, letters, Bible inscriptions all Watson. Advised his children to use their "legal" name DeForrest for marriage, military and land documents. The name morphed to DeForrest by WWI.

EthnoAncestry testing of my Y-chromosome DNA proved my paternal line came from Lowland Scotland. SNP tests S165 and S166 distinguish between British and Scottish lineage. I'm Scottish.

Still looking for a DeForrest line in Scotland or Northern Ireland. There was some inter-marriage between Presbyterians and Huguenots.

[Polwarth]

I wish I could help - but as far as I know, DeForrest is an American/Canadian name.

I'm from the central belt of Scotland (Edinburgh) - it's not a name I've ever come across.