David Tennant was born in Bathgate, West Lothian to Essdale Helen and the Very Rev. Dr. Alexander McDonald (born 1937). David Tennant grew up with his brother Blair and sister Karen in Ralston, Renfrewshire, where his father was the local Church of Scotland Minister and former Moderator. David Tennant's maternal great-grandparents, William and Agnes Blair, were staunch Protestants from County Londonderry, Ulster, the northern province of Ireland, and were among the signatories of the Ulster Covenant in 1912. William Blair was a member of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. Tennant's maternal grandfather, footballer Archie McLeod, met William and Agnes's daughter Nellie while playing for Derry City
