This distinguished surname is of early medieval Scottish origin, and is a locational name from the lands or barony of Kinloch at the head of Loch Rossie in Fifeshire, so called from the Old Gaelic "ceann", head (land) and "loch", loch. Locational names were originally given to the lord of the manor, or as a means of identification to those who left their place of origin to settle elsewhere. The surname first appears on record at the eginning of the 13th Century (see below). One Galfridus de Keldelach was a charter witness circa 1232, and John de Kyndelouch and his heirs had a confirmation of the privilege of a mill-pool in Fife, circa 1250. In 1296 William de Kyndelloche of Fifeshire rendered homage to John Balliol, and in 1365, Johannes de Kyndeloch attested a confirmation charter of David 11 to Ysabella de Fyf. A notable bearer of the name was Sir John Kyndelock, chaplain to friar Andrew Meldrum, brother of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Scotland, 1438. The Kinlochs have had a long and honourable association with Dundee, and George Kinloch was elected the first M.P. for Dundee in the Reformed Parliament of 1832. A Coat of Arms granted to the family depicts a boar's head erased, between three gold mascles on an azure shield. A young eagle perching and looking up to the sun in its splendour proper, forms the Crest. The Motto "Non degener" translates as "Not degenerated". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Murinus de Kindelouch, which was dated 1202, witnessed a grant by Roger de Quincy, in the "Chartulary of the Priory of St. Andrew's", during the reign of King William of Scotland, known as "The Lion", 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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