The Calder branch of my family tree ends in the Parish of Petty, Scotland where my 3xGreat Grandfather James recorded the birth of four children with Abigail Ferguson (or Fergus or Tangus) in the early 1800s. I have been unable to positively identify a birth or death record for James or a marriage record for him and Abigail.

A by-product of my attempts to trace James and Abigail is the gathering of lots of information about the Calder name and families in Scotland and beyond - some identified as related to me but most are not. This data will provide a foundation to build on for this One-Name Study.

The Calder surname is locative in that it derives from a geographical location. It is particularly associated with one of the many Calder rivers.

An internet search for 'the history of the family name Calder in Scotland' indicates that it:

• is an ancient name. The village of Cawdor near Nairn in Scotland uses a modern phonetic spelling of the older name, Calder.
• may come from the early Celtic words for Wood (cale) and water (Dor) used to describe a place that has been taken by locals as their name;
• has links to the French name "de Cadella" which also gives us Cadell. Hugo de Cadella was a supporter of King Malcolm 3rd (1034-1093) and he became the Thane of Calder during Malcolm's reign.

Admiral Sir Robert Calder (1745-1818): British naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

Frank Sellick Calder (1877-1943): English born Canadian ice hockey executive, journalist, and athlete.

Alexander Calder (1898-1976): American sculptor known for his innovative mobiles and monumental public sculptures.

Frank Arthur Calder (1915-2006): Canadian politician famous for the court case that established Aboriginal title to land existed prior to the colonisation of the continent.

Tony Calder (1943-2018): English record manager, impresario, talent-spotter, promoter, and public relations agent.

Finlay Calder (1957-  ): former Scottish rugby union captain who also led the 1989 British Lions touring side to their test series victory in Australia.

Using Ancestry as a source, there were a total of 4207 people with the surname Calder recorded in the combined population of 30,083,453 in the 1881 censuses taken in Scotland, England and Wales - an average frequency of approximately 140 Calders per million people. Comparative figures from Ireland are not available.

Ancestry also provides census figures from Canada for 1881 and the USA for 1880 but data for Australia and New Zealand is not available.