Do you know anything about the Galrath surname?

Question

It's origin, where most of its family members are from, if it still exists, whatever?

Answer 1

In 1930, Ollie and Anna Galrath lived in Ohio, but both were born in Kentucky.  Of course, Anna is not a Galrath, except by marriage.

Using familysearch.org, I see a GRAND TOTAL of two entries, one in the US and one in Scotland. Both were women.

So, heads up, using some simple logic.. none of these few persons sprang from "nothing" and the lack of entries leads me to wager that this is not the original name, but almost  certainly a misspelling of something else.

Without finding the actual parents, can't prove it, but I suspect the correct name is Galbreath or Gilbraith, etc.

If you have a specific person in your family with the name, please feel free to send it (or post it here), and we'll see what is findable.

Answer 2

In view of what Wendy C says. I think the original spelling of your name was most probably Galbraith and I think you will need to do some research.

Surname: Galbraith

This interesting and famous surname recorded in several spellings including Galbraith, Galbraeth and even Calbaith, is Scottish. It originated as a nickname for a member of the Briton tribe of Strathclyde who settled amongst the Gaels in the 7th century. In Gaelic the name is written Mac galle Bhreathnach, from "mac", meaning son of, "gall", a stranger, and "Breathnach", a Briton. It is likely that these Britons migrated northwards at the time of the Anglo-Saxon or Norse-Viking invasions of the mainland, although this is not proven. The surname is first recorded in the early 13th century, (see below). In a Lennox charter believed to have an earlier date, the first name holder appears as Gillescop Galbrad. It is interesting to note that the area of Lennox near Dumbarton was known as "the kingdom of the Britons" up to 1124. Three carucates of land in Lennox were granted by Maldouen the earl to William, son of Arthur, son of Galbrat in 1238 and in 1246, one Gillaspec Galbraith witnessed the grant of the lands of Colquhoune to Umfridus de Kilpatrick, The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gillescop Galbrath. He witnessed a gift of land to Campsie Church, which was dated circa 1208, in the "Episcopal Register of Glasgow", during the reign of King William, known as "The Lion of Scotland", 1165 - 1214.