Hopkirk

This name appears to derive from the lands of Hopkirk near Hawick in Roxburghshire. The name may indicate lands dedicated to the Church by either a man named Hob (a diminutive of Robert), or perhaps a member of the ancient family of Hopringle, who held lands near Stow in Roxburghshire in the eleventh century. The name arises in various early charters of land in Roxburghshire, and James Hobkirk is recorded as resident at Carrington in 1574. The principal family were Lairds of Dalbeath. James Hobkirk, a fervent Covenanter, was drowned off Orkney in 1679.