This surname is of early medieval Scottish origin, and is a territorial name from the barony of Kinnaird in Perthshire, so called from the Old Gaelic "ceann", head, top, summit, with "ard", high. Several other minor places in Scotland are named with these elements, including: Kinnaird in East Stirlingshire; Kinnaird Castle, the seat of the Earl of Southesk, in Forfarshire, and Kinnairds Head, Aberdeenshire. Locational surnames, such as this, were originally given to local landowners, and the lord of the anor, and especially to those former inhabitants who left their place of origin to settle in another area, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Between the years 1204 and 1214 there is a record of a royal confirmation of a grant by Richard of Kinnard, grandson of Radulphus "Ruffus" (see below). One Rauf de Kynnard swore loyalty to Edward 1 of England at Kincardine in 1296. The seal attached to his homage bears a shield charged with a saltire, cantoned with four crosses. William de Kynard was burgess of Perth in 1428, and another William Kynnard was noted in records of Aberdeenshire, dated 1546. On January 17th 1630 Jonet Kinnard and Patrik Monorgund were married in Errol, Perth. A Coat of Arms granted to the Kinnairds of Perthshire is divided quarterly with a saltire between four gold crescents in the first and fourth red quarters, and three silver stars in the second and third red quarters. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Radulphus Ruffus de Kinnard, which was dated circa 1180, in "Genealogical Collections concerning Families in Scotland", during the reign of King William "The Lion" of Scotland, 1165 - 1214. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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