(origin: Celtic. Local) From Blair or Blar, which originally signified "a cleared plain," but from the Celts generally choosing such plains for their fields of battle, blair came to signify a battle. There is a small village called the Blair near Lochord, about two miles from Lochleven, in Fifeshire, Scotland. It signifies a spot where a battle was fought, "locus pugnœ." Here, it is supposed, an engagement took place between the Romans and the Caledonians, A.D. 83.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

BLAIR. The Blairs "of that ilk" In Ayrshire, have been seated in that co. for more than GOO years. They claim the chiefship of all the Blairs in the S. and W. of Scotl.. though that honour is challenged by the B.'s of ij.althayock, co. Perth, who date back to the beginning of the XIII. cent. B.L.G. Blair, in Scottish topography,

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.