Forbes is a surname. It derives from the Scottish Clan Forbes (after a toponym, from Gaelic forba "field"). Descendants of the Scottish clan are also present in Ireland from the 17th century. The name of an unrelated Irish sept, Mac Fhirbhisigh or MacFirbis, was also anglicised as Forbes.
Notable people with the surname Forbes include:
Clan Forbes, descendants of Alexander de Forbes, 1st Lord Forbes (c. 1380–1448): see Lord Forbes, Lord Forbes of Pitsligo.Nigel Forbes, 22nd Lord Forbes (1918–2013), Scottish soldier, businessman and politicianForbes baronets of the Baronetage of Nova Scotia: four distinct baronetcies for people called Forbes:Forbes, later Stuart-Forbes, of Monymusk, created 1626 for William Forbes (died c. 1650)Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet (1739–1806)Forbes, of Castle Forbes, created 1628 for Arthur Forbes (1590–1632): see Earl of Granard.Forbes, of Craigievar, created 1630 for William Forbes (died 1648).Sir Ewan Forbes, 11th Baronet (1912–1991)Forbes of Foveran, created 1700 for Samuel Forbes (c. 1663 – 1717), extinct with the death of the 3rd baronet, John Forbes, c. 1760.Forbes baronets of Newe in the County of Aberdeen, created 1823 for Charles Forbes (1774–1849).Hamish Forbes, 7th Baronet (1916–2007)Edwin Forbes (1839–1895), American landscape painter, etcher, and war artist during the American Civil WarElizabeth Forbes (artist) (1859–1912), Canadian artistStanhope Forbes (1857–1947), Irish painterForbes family, a wealthy extended American family originating in Boston, descended from John Forbes (1740–1783), an Anglican clergyman of Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, recorded in Milton, Massachusetts by 1769.James Grant Forbes (1879–1955), American businessmanRobert Pierce Forbes (born 1958), American historianWilliam Cameron Forbes (1870–1959), American investment banker and diplomat, Governor-General of the Philippines (1908–13), US Ambassador to Japan (1930–32)George Forbes (businessman) (born 1945), businessmanJames Staats Forbes (1823–1904) Scottish railway engineer, administrator, businessman and art collectorJohn Murray Forbes (1813–1898), American businessman and philanthropistWalter Forbes, American executive and convicted fraudsterKiernan Forbes (born 1988), South African hip hop musicianChina Forbes (born 1970), American singer and songwriterDerek Forbes (born 1956), Scottish singer and musicianElizabeth Forbes (musicologist) (1924–2014), critic and musicologistElliot Forbes (1917–2006), conductor and musicologistBryan Forbes (1926–2013), English film director, actor and writerMaya Forbes (born 1968), American producer and directorMichelle Forbes (born 1965), American actressArchie Forbes (1913–1999), Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperative Development in Tanganyika (1960–1963)Frederick Augustus Forbes (1818–1878), Australian politicianGeorge Forbes (New Zealand politician) (1869–1947), Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935George L. Forbes (born 1931), American politicianJim Forbes (Australian politician) (born 1923)John Murray Forbes (diplomat) (1771–1831), American diplomatMichael Forbes (born 1952), American politicianPeter W. Forbes (born 1850), Canadian-born member of the California legislatureRandy Forbes (born 1952), American politician in US House of RepresentativesWilliam Henry Forbes (1815–1875), American territorial legislatorForbes family (publishers)B. C. Forbes (1880–1954), founder of Forbes magazineChristopher Forbes, Vice-Chairman of the Forbes Publishing CompanyMalcolm Forbes (1919–1990), publisher of Forbes magazine, son of B. C.Steve Forbes (born 1947), American businessman, current publisher of Forbes MagazineTim Forbes, brother of Steve, also worked for the companyDavid McHattie Forbes (1863–1937), Scottish botanist and ethnologist in Hawai'iEdward Forbes (1815–1854), British naturalistFrancis Blackwell Forbes (1839–1908), American merchant and botanist in ChinaGeorge Forbes (scientist) (1849–1936), scientistGregory S. Forbes (born 1950), American meteorologistHenry Ogg Forbes (1851–1932), British ornithologist, botanist and museum directorJames David Forbes (1809–1868), Scottish physicist and glaciologistStephen Alfred Forbes (1844–1930), American entomologist and ecologistWilliam Alexander Forbes (1855–1883), British zoologistWilliam Trowbridge Merrifield Forbes (1885–1968), American entomologistAlex Forbes (born 1925), retired Scottish footballerElizabeth Forbes (athlete) (1910–2002), New Zealand track and field athleteFred Forbes (born 1894), Scottish footballerGary Forbes (born 1985), Panamanian/American basketball playerHarry Forbes (1879–1946), American boxerHarry Forbes, rugby playerRoss Forbes (born 1989), Scottish footballer who plays for MotherwellTerrell Forbes (born 1981), British footballerW. J. Forbes (1874–1900), American college sports coachArchibald Forbes (1838–1900), British war correspondentEsther Forbes (1891–1967), American novelist and children's writerMoira Forbes (born 1979), American journalistColin Forbes (novelist), pseudonym of British novelist Raymond Harold SawkinsJames Forbes (1749–1819), British traveller and artistJames A. Forbes, American clergymanJohn Forbes (British Army officer) (1707–1759), British general in the French and Indian WarKristin Forbes (born 1970), American economistNorman Hay Forbes (1863–1916), British doctor and academicRosemary Forbes Kerry (1913–2002), American activist and mother of John KerryForbes as a given name is rare, mostly known due to Forbes Burnham (full name Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham , 1923–1985), leader of Guyana from 1964 until his death.
Forbes McAllister is a fictional character (a "cynical restaurant critic") from Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (1994).
