| Core territory | Perthshire, Lothian, and widespread across Lowland Scotland |
| Gaelic form | Mac an Innseanaich |
| Clan motto | Be traist (Be faithful) |
| Notable figures | Esther Inglis (calligrapher), Sir James Inglis |
Inglis is one of the most straightforward Scottish surnames to interpret: it means simply "the Englishman" — from the Scots word Inglis, equivalent to "English" in modern usage. It was given to settlers of English or Norman origin who came to Scotland during the great wave of Anglo-Norman settlement in the 12th century, when King David I (1124–1153) invited nobles, clergy, and administrators from England and Normandy to establish the institutions of feudal government in Scotland.
The surname therefore marks not a single founding family but a group of families identified by their English origin — men who arrived speaking a form of French or English (rather than Gaelic), settled on lands granted by the Crown, and whose descendants took the name of their perceived difference as their permanent family identity. Within two or three generations, the Inglises were as thoroughly Scottish as the oldest Gaelic families.
Inglis families settled across Lowland Scotland wherever Anglo-Norman settlement was densest: in Lothian, Perthshire, Fife, and across the central belt. The Inglises of Cramond in Midlothian were one of the most prominent branches, holding lands near Edinburgh from the medieval period. Cramond itself was a significant estate — a Roman fort site on the Firth of Forth that became a working estate of considerable local importance.
In Perthshire, the Inglis name appears in charters from the 14th century, and branches of the family held minor estates throughout the county. The name is particularly well recorded in the burgh records of Edinburgh, where Inglis merchants and craftsmen appear from the 15th century onward.
Esther Inglis (1571–1624) was one of the most remarkable women in Scottish literary history: a calligrapher whose work was presented to monarchs, nobles, and institutions across Europe. Born in Edinburgh to French Huguenot parents who had settled in Scotland, she trained in the art of calligraphy from childhood and produced dozens of miniature manuscript books — tiny volumes of extraordinary precision, written in multiple scripts, and presented as gifts to Elizabeth I of England, James VI of Scotland, and leading figures of the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts.
Her work survives in libraries across the world, including the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. She is one of the first women in Scotland whose work can be fully documented and attributed, and her story is an exceptional window into the world of Scottish Renaissance culture.
The Inglis name is concentrated in Midlothian, Edinburgh, and Perthshire in parish records. ScotlandsPeople holds the Old Parish Records for these areas from the late 16th century. For those with Inglis ancestry in Edinburgh, the Burgess records of the city — held at Edinburgh City Archives — are an additional source, since many Inglis families were recorded as Edinburgh burgesses (freemen) with specific trades or professions.
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