Sam Allardyce: Scots origins of next England manager's name

England's manager-in-waiting Sam Allardyce has a surname with its roots firmly north of the border.

Allardyce's parents are both Scottish. Picture: AFP/Getty

According to the publication The Surnames of Scotland, published in 1946, the name’s origins are based on location rather than occupation. Allardice Castle is a 16th century manor house in Kincardineshire, close to the town of Inverbervie on the north-east coast of Scotland. There is even a recognised Allardice Scottish clan.

A Scottish genealogy magazine cited by the forebears.co.uk website wrote: “It is not a very common name, but all who hold it believe in their descent from the old family which was settled for so long a period on the banks of the Bervie Water.”

The name is believed to be derived from the old name for the locality, Alrethis. British historian Robert Nisbet Bain said that King William the Lion gave the charter to lands at Alrethis to an individual who then became known as Alexander de Allyrdas in the 13th century.

The Surnames of Scotland says the Allardice Castle estate was sold in 1872 and now forms part of the Arbuthnott estate in the same parish.

Clan Allardice’s crest is described by scotclans.com as depicting “a demi-savage holding in the dexter (right) hand a scymitar, all Proper.”

The clan’s motto may be an apposite one for the job Allardyce inherits with England - ‘In Defence of the Distressed’.

In his book Big Sam: My Autobiography, Allardyce writes about his mother and father coming from Scotland and that he once went on holiday to where his dad was born in Aberlour “on the whisky trail”.

“I’m not sure how we ended up in Dudley, because my Mum is Scottish too, and I never asked my parents,” he added.

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