Buick (name)

The surname Buick is ultimately of English origin, derived from the place name of Bewick, which is found in both Yorkshire and Northumberland. Later, the name made its way across the border to Scotland and came to prominence in the person of David Dunbar Buick, the Angus-born, Scottish American founder of the Buick Motor Company.

Heraldry

The logo used on the Buick automobile is said to be derived from the ancient Buick (a.k.a. Buik) coat of arms, as located in "Burke's General Armory" in the 1930s by a General Motors researcher. The blazon was interpreted as: "a red shield with a checkered silver and azure (light purplish blue) diagonal line running from the upper left corner to lower right, an antlered deer head with a jagged neckline in the upper right corner of the shield and a gold cross in the lower left corner. The cross had a hole in the center with the red of the shield showing through." [http://www.cartype.com/page.cfm?id=270&alph=ALL] However, "Burke's" has nothing for "Buick" or "Buik" and the arms of "Bewicke/Bewike" (essentially the same name) bear boars' heads, not a deer.

Distribution of the surname Buick

Note that the forms Bewick and Bewicke are more common in England, Buick in Scotland.
* [http://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/Map.aspx?name=BUICK&year=1881&altyear=1998&country=GB&type=name Distribution of the surname Buick in Great Britain, 1881]
* [http://www.spatial-literacy.org/uclnames/Map.aspx?name=BUICK&year=1998&altyear=1881&country=GB&type=name Distribution of the surname Buick in Great Britain, 1998]

Notable Buicks

*David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American inventor of the OHV engine, and founder of the Buick Motor Company
*Glen Garvie James David Buick, Canadian diplomat
*William Buick, notable apprentice jockey in the UK 2007.
*David Buick (New Zealand), New Zealand politician

Places

*Buick City, Flint, Michigan

ee also

* Buick Invitational
* Bewick's Swan often mis-spelled as Buick's Swan

ources

* The Surnames of Scotland by George F. Black
* A Dictionary of British Surnames by P.H. Reaney
* Burke's General Armory