PORTEUS. PORTEOUS. 1. A porteus is a Roman breviar)', or priest's officebook. The surname may be classed with Crucifix, Pix, &c. 2. In Scotland, a porteous is a " list of iersons indicted to appear before the Justiciary ;" and portuous roll is a phrase still used to denote the list of criminal causes to be tried at the circuit courts. Jamieson. Hence the name may have originated from some office connected with such courts. The family of this name boast, that they have been seated at Hawkshaw, in Peebles-shire, a whole Millennium !

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