Clan Fraser of Lovat (Scottish Gaelic: Friseal [ˈkʰl̪ˠãũn̪ˠ ˈfɾʲiʃəl̪ˠ]) is a Highland Scottish clan and the principal branch of Clan Fraser. The Frasers of Lovat are strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century.

The Clan Fraser of Lovat in Inverness-shire has historically dominated local politics and been active in every major military conflict involving Scotland. It has also played a considerable role in most major political turmoils. "Fraser" remains the most prominent family name within the Inverness area. The Clan's current chief is Simon Fraser, the 16th Lord Lovat, and 25th Chief of Clan Fraser.

The exact origins of the surname "Fraser" can not be determined with any great certainty. Traditionally it is thought to have originated in France, but the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names (2016) notes there is no place name in France corresponding with the earliest spellings of the name – "de Fresel", "de Friselle", and "de Freseliere" – and suggests the possibility it represents a Gaelic name "corrupted beyond recognition by Anglo-French scribes".

The first definite record of the name in Scotland occurs in the mid-12th century as "de Fresel", "de Friselle", and "de Freseliere", and appears to be an Angevin name. The French surname "Frézelière" or "de la Frézelière" or "Frézeau de la Frézelière", exists in France to this day, and is still concentrated in the area of Anjou. It also corresponds with the Scottish version in its spelling. Belief in the name's Angevin origin has also been firmly held by the Frasers themselves. In 1702, while in exile in France, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, "entered into a formal league of amity" and "declared an alliance" with the French Marquis de la Frézelière and claimed common origin from the "seigneurs de la Frézelière" in Loigné-Sur-Mayenne. The first annual gathering of the Clan Fraser in Canada in 1894 also recalls this connection.

There is other evidence of an ancient connection with Anjou. An 18th-century document Le Dictionnaire de la noblesse states that a Simon Frezel was born to the knightly Frezel family from Anjou and, sometime after the year 1030, established himself in Scotland. It also states that Simon Frezel's descendants multiplied and eventually became known as Frasers. This would also explain the prevalence of the name Simon throughout clan history, as all Frasers (by descent) would have the knight Simon Frezel as a distant but common ancestor.

There are other suggested links with France, but these are more in the realm of myth than history:

Around the reign of William the Lion (r.1165–1214), there was a mass of "Norman" immigration into Scotland. Thomas Grey, a 14th-century English knight, listed several "Norman" families which took up land during William's reign. Among those listed, the families of Moubray, Ramsay, Laundells, Valognes, Boys and Fraser are certainly or probably introduced under King William.

The earliest written record of Frasers in Scotland is in 1160, when a Simon Fraser held lands in East Lothian at Keith. In that year, he made the gift of a church to the Tironensian monks at Kelso Abbey. The Frasers moved into Tweeddale in the 12th and 13th centuries and from there into the counties of Stirling, Angus, Inverness and Aberdeen.