From Gaelic ban 'minstrel'. The Baird name can be traced back to a family holding land in Lanarkshire in the 13th century. Henry Debard witnessed a deed by Thomas De Hay between 1202 and 1228. Richard Baird received land at Meikle and little Kyp in Lanarkshire, during the reign of Alexander III.
Anderson states that Fergus Debard, John Bard and Robert Bard, who swore submission to Edward I of England at the end of the 13th century, are supposed to be of the family of Baird of Kyp. The principle family of the name came to be that holding the lands of Auchmedden in Aberdeenshire, whose influence in that country was strengthened by marriage into the powerful Keith family. James Baird, a younger son of the house of Auchmedden, became an advocate in Edinburgh and his son, John, was created a baronet and then a High Court judge under the title of Lord Newbyth. Later Bairds were to be found in Banffshire and Aberdeenshire where they filled the hereditary office of sheriff for many generations. Later branches included the Bairds of Newbyth. Sir David Baird was a Baird of Newbyth and was a leading soldier of his day fighting in both India and the Napoleonic wars.
The coat of arms of this family proclaims the legend of it origin. The first Baird saved William the Lion (1165-1214) from a wild boar which threatening the King. It was killed by the spear of a Baird.
The most famous descendant of the Bairds was John Logie Baird, the pioneer of television, who was the son of a minister in Dumbartonshire. In 1926 he demonstrated the first television transmission, and he remained heavily involved in its development until his death in 1946.
