Cranston, Cranstoun or Cranstone is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

originating in a clan that lived around

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at lea ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

. It is a minor clan but has its own

tartan Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

and clan brooch. Notable people with the surname include:

Real people

Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as President of the Citizens for Global S ...

(1914–2000), American politician from California * Andrew Cranston (b. 1969), Scottish painter * Alistair Cranston Former Scottish rugby union player *

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor. After taking minor roles in television, he established himself as a leading actor in both comedic and dramatic Bryan Cranston filmography, works on stage and screen. He has received ...

(b. 1956), American actor *

Catherine Cranston Catherine Cranston (27 May 1849 – 18 April 1934), widely known as Kate Cranston or Miss Cranston, was a leading figure in the development of tea rooms. She is nowadays chiefly remembered as a major patron of Charles Rennie Mackintos ...

(1849–1934), also known as Kate Cranston or Miss Cranston, tea room proprietor * Earl Cranston (1840–1932), bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church *

Edwin Cranston Edwin Augustus Cranston (1932–2021) was a Professor of Japanese literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Harvard University. His primary research interest was the classical literature of Japan, especially traditiona ...

, professor of Japanese at Harvard University * Emily Cranston, Canadian chemist * John Cranston, colonial governor of Rhode Island * Ken Cranston (1917–2007), former English cricketer * Kyle Cranston (b. 1992), Australian Decathlete, 2017 World University Games Decathlon Champion *

Lefevre James Cranstone Lefevre James Cranstone (March 6, 1822 – June 22, 1893) was an English artist known for his watercolor genre-style landscapes and oil paintings. He visited the United States, where many of his works are displayed, and later moved to Australia. ...

(1822–1893), English artist * Mary Cranston Mason (1846–1932), social reformer and temperance leader *

Maurice Cranston __NOTOC__ Maurice William Cranston (8 May 1920 – 5 November 1993) was a British philosopher, professor and author. He served for many years as Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics, and was also known for his pop ...

(1920–1993), British philosopher and political scientist *

Ross Cranston Sir Ross Frederick Cranston (born 23 July 1948) is a professor of Law at London School of Economics and a retired High Court judge. He is also a former British Labour Party politician, and served as the Member of Parliament for Dudley North bet ...

(b. 1948), British lawyer and politician, member of Parliament for Dudley *

Samuel Cranston Samuel Cranston (1659–1727) was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the first quarter of the 18th century. He held office from 1698 to 1727, being elected to office 30 times (twice in 1698) and served as g ...

, colonial governor of Rhode Island * Tim Cranston (b. 1962), Canadian ice hockey player * Tom Cranston (footballer) (1891–1916), Scottish footballer * Thomas George Cranston (1877–1954), Irish chess player *

Toller Cranston Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston (April 20, 1949 – January 24, 2015) was a Canadian figure skater and painter. He won the 1971–1976 Canadian national championships, the 1974 World bronze medal and the 1976 Olympic bronze medal. De ...

(1949–2015), Canadian figure skater and artist

Fictional characters

Billy Cranston Billy Cranston is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. He is the Blue Ranger (triceratops) in the series ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,'' and was portrayed by actor David Yost. Billy is the only original Power Ranger to remain ...

, a character from the ''Power Rangers'' universe * Lamont Cranston, a crime-fighting vigilante from the 1930s series, ''The Shadow'' * Kirk Cranston, a fictional character on the NBC daytime soap ''Santa Barbara'' * Rachel Cranston, a female character on the ''NCIS'' * Chuck Cranston, the lowlife boyfriend of Ariel Moore in the movie ''

Footloose ''Footloose'' is a 1984 American musical drama film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. It tells the story of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), a teenager from Chicago who moves to a small town, where he attempts to overturn a b ...

'' {{surname, Cranston Surnames of British Isles origin