The origins of this family is with Freskin in 12th century. While he may have been a Pict, it is more likely that he was a Flemish Knight, employed by the Norman King to control his new realm. He was granted lands in West Lothian and the ancient Pictish kingdom of Moray. Freskin and his sons intermarried with the existing house of Moray to consolidate their power base. The Earls of Sutherland descend from what is thought to be Freskins eldest son. In charters Freskins descendants were known ‘de Moravia’, which in Lowland Scots tongue became Murray.

There were many branches of the name who disputed kinship following the death of the fifth Lord, and in the 16th century the Murrays of Tullibardine are recorded using the Murray arms. The Tullibardine claim rested upon descent from Sir Malcolm, younger brother of the First Lord Bothwell. Sir John Murray of Tullibardine was created first Earl of Tullibardine in 1606. His son and heir married the heiress to the Earls of Atholl. She brought with her vast tracts of land and in 1629 the Earldom of Atholl became a Murray Earldom. In 1703 the Murrays reached the peak of peerage, being created Dukes of Atholl.

Another unique honour passed to the Murrays when the second Duke inherited the sovereignty of The Isle of Man, off the English coast, and the Atholl arms still reflect this ancient connection. The heraldry of the Dukes of Atholl include the crests of Murray, Tullibardine and Atholl as befits the history of the clan.