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Baby names

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Scottish people...

33 replies

HamWater · 27/08/2019 16:26

I'm English and considering the name Alba. If you met my daughter in the future, would you think it a bit ridiculous/insulting that she'd have that name with no family connection to Scotland (or Italy and Spanish speaking countries)? I don't want to set her up with a lifetime of having to explain her parents' name choice.

OP posts:
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augustagain · 27/08/2019 17:53

As Scottish as they come, but don't understand people getting precious and possessive over a name. It is nice you should use it if you want Smile

HamWater · 27/08/2019 17:38

Thanks everyone. I'm going to cross it off my list. It puts me off even more now I know the word pronounced different in Scotland. I would hate for her to have to correct people or explain it if she moved to Scotland when older. I was already uncertain with it being a brand of electronics!

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 27/08/2019 17:26

I don't think anybody would bother much however you might get oh are you scottish but apart from that call her what you like

Lauraloop1516 · 27/08/2019 17:23

I would think it a bit silly, yes.

HoratioNightboy · 27/08/2019 17:21

@TeacupDrama, Ruairidh is a nightmare! Scottish names are an ongoing research project/hobby for me and so far I have encountered 54 different spellings, only two of which are correct. People justy don't care about the rules, and it's a bit worrying that Ruaridh has become the most popular spelling now , even though it's wrong.

OP, the Scottish Gaelic word Alba is pronounced something like Ull-uh-puh so I'd imagine most Gaelic speakers wouldn't associate the Latin sound of Alba on an English girl with their word for their country. They'd most likely assume a Latin origin.

TeacupDrama · 27/08/2019 16:43

while Alba is the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland it is also the Latin word for White or Bright and in Italian means dawn , it is a recognized girls name; it is also a town in Piedmonte Italy famous for truffles

it is not insulting to Scotland or the gaelic speaking community, some Gaelic speakers get a bit annoyed at people using Gaelic names and not following gaelic rules with regard to vowels like in Gaelic you could have Ruairidh or Ruaraidh but not Ruairadh or Ruari as the vowels around the middle "R" need to match
summarised here
"Gaelic has a system of broad vowels (A, O, U) and slender vowels (E, I). It's a strange feature of Gaelic spelling that a consonant – or bunch of consonants – only ever has broad vowels on both sides, or slender vowels on both sides. So aonach and coire are both valid words, but not aonech or core."
No one would say that someone called Florence should be corrected and told well actually in Italian it is Firenze

HoratioNightboy · 27/08/2019 16:38

I doubt anyone would bother, OP. Alba can come from a few sources and I can't imagine anybody would question her and then denounce you for having culturally appropriated the name.

We live in a global society, and anything goes in my opinion. Go for it!

RolyWatts · 27/08/2019 16:29

Call her whatever you love. I know a Florence who has no Italian connections, a Paris who has no French connections and an India who very much isn't Indian. There are also a bajillion kids at my childs school with Irish names who are not Irish.

If you love it who cares.

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