My ancestors are traced back to Renfrew, Scotland, and are
said to originally be French Huguenots. If so, what would
the name be and when did they go to Scotland and from
where in France. The name appears to begin in the early
17th century in that location.

Hello Carolyn -- it would be helpful if you would explain what your evidence is for thinking that your PORTER ancestors were of Huguenot origins.

But even if they were indeed Huguenots, there is no way anyone else can tell you what the surname may have originally been (if not PORTER) or when they got to Scotland or where they came from in France. These are facts which can only be learned through genealogical research of the individuals in your ancestry.

For example, who exactly was your earliest known PORTER ancestor in Renfrew? When and where in Renfrew did s/he live, marry, die? What sources have you already searched in an attempt to trace the family origins of this ancestor? Regards, Andrea (admin for Huguenots-Walloons-Europe message board & mailing list)

Afternoon Carolyn

The name PORTER has also got separate Scottish origins because of its derivation from a doorkeeper or gate keeper, as well as carriers of goods etc.

In many Scottish towns and cities, there are the ancient "Port" through the local defence works or walls often called "sally ports".

In Edinburgh and also Linlithgow, there are the East Ports and the West Ports.

Incidentally, none of these have any connections with the sea, as seen in Southport etc.

Regarding Renfrewshire, I found this as part of the entry for PORTER in Scottish Surnames-
"
Robert PORTER was laird of Porterfield in the latter part of the 14th century.
"
So long before the Huguenots came into existence.

PORTER is a very common name up in and around Aberdeen, with similarly early origins for its name.

If you are ver over in the UK, look out for the trucks of "The Shore Porters Society, Founded 1498" of Aberdeen; and there is some evidence of a predecessor coming into being about 100 years earlier-

http://www.shoreporters.com/

Reinforcing Andrea's suggestions, take a look at-

http://www.genforum.genealogy.com/huguenot/messages/58.html
=====================
You should go to familysearch-

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp

Key in *Last Name field-

porter

Ignore all the other fields except perhaps Country-

Scotland

then search.

This will confirm it being a common, early name up in Aberdeen.

You have gotten excellent advice. There is usually some truth to a family legend but most researchers never get that far because it is rough work. I would guess the name would be Porter. It has a Laten root. French, English and Gaelic all have Laten roots. I have helped several "Huguenots" discover their "French" names were really Celtic. At least Renfrew , in the lowlands next to the highlands MAY have tolerated protistants at that time.

It is unlikely, many vital records on the early 1600 survived for many reasons. Bear in mind it is unlikely any Huguenot records survived the wars in France. It was common practice to burn the churches and anyone in them when the Huguenots lost the battle. Scottish records are pretty light during the 1600s. I would not have put it past the highlanders to have burned any protestant churches in 1745. Church burning was quite popular because you could utterly destroy a thing quickly and easily. That is what each side tried successfully to destroy a religion in their country. This was mostly done through genacide and forced conversions. I do not know how it was in Renfrew. Even though I have looked some. I have several ancestors from Renfrew

Ron,

Thank you so much for your reply. How interesting that I had never thought that the Porter name WAS French. There are so many derivations similarities in the French language.
I have just finished a book on the lives of the French, Spanish
and Italian (also English) aristocracy in the 16th century which takes place in France. There is a de Poitier family who was instrumental in the development of the Protestant
church in France and who had "friends" in Scotland. It made me even more anxious to find out more about the Huguenots and their migrations. The families in Renfrew moved to Argyl when the Duke recruited them to rent land their in order to rebuild the Kintyre peninsula after it was ravaged by wars,
famine and disease in the 17th century. What a history they must have had! Anyway, the town of Campbeltown was then inhabited by my ancestors, the Porters, Armours, Galbraiths, Stewarts, Pickens, Bairds, Clarks, etc.
Thanks again.

Yes it COULD be French as well as quite a few other languages, such as English and Gaelic. Spelling is irrevelant before the 19th century. Everything was spelled phonetically before then.
You mentioned the Porters showed un in the local records in about 1700. That may have just been the beginning of records being kept. 1700s are very early records in Scotland. Good record keeping does not occur uniformly for a century later. Actually, that is not correct. The records may have been written down but had been burned. What I should have said is you can not expect to find good records before 1800.

Huguenots and Presbyterians were more closely alined in their beliefs than the church of England. I would suspect they would have had missionaries from Europe to spread the word.