Fortune is one of my family names and I don't really know exactly where the name originates all I have about it is...That is has origin in France, Italy, Germany, England, Ireland, and maybe Spain. If anyone has any info on any areas or anything please email me it will be of great help.
frau_walder@hotmail.com

My last name is Fortune. My grand father(John Logan Fortune) came from Va via NC in the early part of the 20th. century. He was 58 when he married my 18 year old GM. I have traced him back to the Broad River section of NC where he was listed as a farmer in the 1880 census. He was of Irish decent.

here is some details that I have gathered about the Fortune name -

Family name history:


"The origin of the Irish surname Fortune and it's variants O"'Fortune, Fortin and Forty are of English origin, having been brought to Ireland by English settlers. Here the name is of nickname origin;, derived from the Latin "fortuna", meaning "chance, fate, fortune" and indicating "a fortunate or lucky person".

The name is however, also found in Scotland, and ntroduced into Ireland during the Plantation period of the 17th century. The name is an anglicized form of the Gaelic "O Fairtcheirn" and of patronymic origin, derived from a personal name meaning"overlord". This surname was brought to America by Irish immigrants in the 19th century.
*This information was obtained from Grace Fortune Melton

Information from Ruth Armstrong:

In an article entitled SOME RESEARCH INTO THE FAMILY NAME OF Fortune by George Fortune which appeared in THE SCOTTISH GENEALOGIST, Quarterly Journal of the SCOTTISH GENEALOGY SOCIETY, March 1972, pp. 10-14, the author describes the surname Fortune as a place name in The Lothians such as an ancient fortification - three lands adjacent to the fort bear names: West Fortune, East Fortune and Fortunebank - the lands from which supplies of farm produce were obtained for the army that manned the fort - Fort-toun. A more recent mapmaker (late 1770's) frequently changed "East Forton" into "East Fortune".

So, if the surname Fortune is really a place name, it appears that there was no early common ancestor and therefore no early blood relatives.

Some years ago I worked at the British Library and read an article in a Welsh Genealogical Journal (whose name I'm afraid I cannot recall!) about the diary of a Pembrokeshire ancestor called Fortune written in the 16th century who insisted that his ancestors had accompanied Strongbow - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Clare,_2nd_Earl_of_P... -
to Leinster (opposite Pembrokeshire) in the 12th century to conquer the Irish and been given land there as reward.

No way of knowing this is true but interestingly my ancestors come from Wexford (part of Leinster) and the Fortune name occurs almost exclusively in that county prior to 1800.

Also of interest is that the name Fortune also exists widely in France - the only place I visit regularly where I don't have to spell my name to hotel receptionists :-)!

There is a Scottish family listed in Debrett's called the Fortunes of Bengairn. They appear to be connected to East Fortune (near Edinburgh) but not to me alas!

Mick Fortune

I am John (Jack) Fortune, son of the late Lieut Col JB (Bruce) Fortune MC, of Bengairn, Castle Douglas, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (Dumfries & Galloway) whose entry in Debretts you cited.

We are in fact the senior branch of the Fortunes of East Fife whose earliest known scion is my g-g-g-g-g grandfather - JOHN Fortune (FFORTOWN acc. Gravestone, St Andrews) 1664--1725. The Fortunes were tenant farmers and later small bankers, merchants and landowners. My greatgrandfather, eldest of 11 settled in southwest Scotland after 20 years in India. We have now have no known relations in Fife

Clearly, theories about the origin of our distinctive surname abound- Gaelic, Old English, Norse, French. It seems unlikely there is one sole derivation. My cousin Ernest Fortune also believed our surname may have derived from a place name in this case the town of Fordoun in old Kincardineshire; the eariest recorded form being FFORTOWN mutating through FFORTUN / FORTUN TO Fortune. I doubt we'll ever know.

hello my last name is fortune.we go back 5 generations,as far as i know.must of my family is from sumter s.c.

History of Fortune Name: FYI
The following is a brief history of the Fortune name as found on the internet (http//indigo.ie/~ffortune, I can't remember the name of the site sponsor).
The writer states that the information was taken from various books such as the book of Ossary, the National Library of Ireland, the book of Wexford surnames etc.
0900: In early Irish history (although 0900 is not early, in real terms Irish history goes back as far as 3-4000 BC. Ther is an account of when the MaCarty's of Cork was fighting their neighbouring clan, the OFlaherty's, the MaCarty's hired the Fortune's of Wexford to help them in their bid to be rid of the O'Flaherty's. The Fortune's obliged (for a small fee of course) and were seen a heroes of the battle.
1175: O'Donavan in his edition of the Four Masters states that, O'Phoirtchearn was the leader of the Ossary men who slay the son of the king o Leinster in 1175 was of a family whose name was subsequently Angilcized t Fortune, Foran, Forehan or Ford.
1253: According to MaC Lyaght, Fortune is one of the oldest Wexford surnames, and is rarly found outside the country. (All of the above is open to debate).

From other sources based on research I completed in the early 1980's, the name would appear to have come from Normandy to England and eventually to Ireland. Early records of the name Fortune are recorded in the year 1180 and spelled Fortens, Foren, Fortin and Fortinus. Osbert, Radulphus, and William Fortin had their fiefs Normandy 1180-1195. Another reference to the name is Richard de Forten of England 1199. An earlier record is that of Geronymus adn Baldwin Fortinus who witnessed a charter in Normandy in 1077, prior to William the Conquerer, raiding the British Isles in 1099. As the name appeared in Normandy, it probably spread to England during the time of William the Conquerer in 1099. How it spread to Ireland is unclear but most likely this took place during Queen Elizabeth 1 reign when England sent her army to England to quell the troublesome Irish.

Hello, I have just come across the Fortune name in my research and was wondering if you have come across the following names at all

Mary Murray Fortune, b abt 1864, Biggar, Lanarkshire. Father appears to be Thomas and mother, Jane. Siblings Elizabeth M Fortune and Cornelins Fortune.

Mary Murray Fortune married Alexander Marshall Simpson on the 16th June 1883 and their address was 13 Bedford St, Edinburgh. They had 5 children under the Simpson surname. Mary Murray Simpson died on the 20 July 1908.

Please let me know if you have any information, or I would also appreciate information in general about the Fortune family in Scotland. Mary Murray Fortune is the 1st wife of my Great Grandfather.

Thanks, Judith

I'm afraid I cant help you with any of these names. You ask about the Fortune family in Scotland. There are of course many Fortune families, many of whom have nothing in common but their surname.

Fortune as a name is distinctive but not that rare and probably has number of different derivations from different parts of the British Isles. East and northeast Scotland from Lothian to Aberdeenshire seem to represent a particular focus. In my family's case there were concentrations of Fortunes around St Andrews and East Fife. East Fortune in East Lothian, Fordoun in old Kincardineshire offer two possible points of origin for the name. It's worth pointing out that two families taking their surname from the same place name need not have been related at all.

Good luck with your research.

I've never been happy with the stories pedalled out by the various genealogy quick buck merchants. Not enough research and greedy for profit in my experience. Certainly none of them seem to have searched Irish history & literature. If you only look at French and English history its easy to come to the conclusion that the Fortune name originated in France and possibly separatly in Scotland. My research goes a little deeper and predates the earliest recorded instances of the name, as is pedalled by any genealogy organisation I've been in contact with.

There have been a number of recordings of the name Fortchern and Ferceirtne in Irish history. Notably Saint Fortchern of Trim, sixth century bishop of Trim, Ireland.also known as Forkernus. The son of a pagan chieftain, he was converted to Christianity by Saint Loman of Trim.

Another Forchern is often confused with the above saint (If it is the same man he had a long life), was a smith, known as Saint Patricks bell maker.

The Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters lists Forchern & Ferceirtne as irish bards in the first century.

Another source which I can't find at the moment says that a man known as Forchern wrote the rules of Irish grammer around the time of Christ.
Therefore I recon the Fortune name originated in Ireland, travelled to Europe, very likely carried by mercenaries, and was then reintroduced to Ireland in its anglisized form during norman times.