The Oliphant Clan are connected with the Oliver family. The Oliphants are incorrectly placed as a sept of the Olivers by some sources, due to the fact that during the 12th and 13th centuries, the two names seemed to be often confused with each other in the Lowland counties. This confusion of identity became a problem shortly after the Olifards were granted lands in Northamptonshire and later Roxburghshire, when the two families were found in a close proximity to one another. The Olifard/Oliphant name was unfamiliar in the Lowlands and was often exchanged with the name Oliver. The Olivers claim descent from the Olifards of Smailholm and Crailing but contend that the name was Oliver. The senior line of Olifards in later history owned lands in the Mearns and at Alberdalgie only and it is only by ignoring or by being unaware of this, which evidences that the Oliphant name the senior of the two, could the precedence be reversed. Nonetheless, the Oliphant name has been clumped under the more plentiful Olivers from this small chance of confusion nearly 900 years ago, completely without warrant. Various other clans include Oliver as their septs, including Fraser.
More recently cases have come to light where Olivers in lands such as Caithness have had their name mistaken for the more familiar Oliphant.
However, these seem to be the only connections between the two families.