Scottish Baby Names

Duncan
Hector
David
Alistair
Colin
Sandy (for Alexander)
Andrew
Alec

Ishbel
Elspeth
Flora

One name that is popular among older Gaelic-speaking ladies that I know is Chrissie. Officially, that is Christina (Gaelic =Cairistiona), but they hardly ever use their full name, though it's rather pretty.

Johann is a old Scots version of an international name (Joan, Joanne) that's not used much these days.

In fact many 'international' names have been used for Scottish women for centuries. These sites listing names used in Scotland from 16th cent are mainly Scots, rather than Gaelic:
heraldry.sca.org/names/scottishfem.html
medievalscotland.org/scotnames/lowland16/womenalpha.shtml
If you have time to spare, this site is interesting:
www.s-gabriel.org/names/scottish.shtml

Text of talk here:
cscs.academicblogs.co.uk/personal-names-and-naming-practices-in-medieval-and-early-modern-scotland-with-dr-matthew-hammond/

If you go really far back, there are a few genuinely Gaelic-origin names - a couple of modernised examples would be Ferelith (sounds vaguely like 'Verily'), or Dervla (like the famous Irish travel/explorer writer) - but perhaps that's going too far. I like Ferelith, however.

The trouble is, for very old names, few women's names were recorded in documents, because mostly the men had the land/money/power.

OP Yes, Ailis is very much like Alice. Pronounced on the 'official' learn Gaelic website here: learngaelic.scot/fichead-facal/ff-names-girls.jsp?

There seem to be far fewer Scottish female names, compared with male. ..

Thanks @florascotia2

Had considered a lot of these but it’s challenging as we know so many!

Fiona - best pal
Marsaili - work colleague
Flora- “too like butter” and also a family friend!!
Kirsty - bullied relentlessly by one of these

Would ailis be pronounced Alice?

We’ve called out little girl Elspeth

Fiesty Sheep has some good ideas.

If you like place names such as Ailsa (which is pretty) there is also Iona, Shona, Rona and Vaila, Eriska (all islands; the last two Norse in origin rather than Gaelic). There is also Lorna (said to have been invented by novelist RD Blackmoore for 'Lorna Doone', and based on the place name Lorne, in Argyll). And Morven.

Nothing to frighten the horses with these:

Ailis (sometimes also spelled Ailish/Eilish )
Mairead
Kirsty (Gaelic = Ciorstaidh)
Fiona isn't Gaelic but was very popular in the West a couple of generations ago
Fenella /Finella (version of Gaelic Fionnuala)
Flora (Gaelic Floraidh, pronouced Florreeh)
Marsaili as suggested by previous poster: MARH-sah-lih
Annag (the 'g' is more like a soft 'kh') = Annie
Davina (originally Davidina) was used in the past in Gaelic-speaking areas; similarly Andrina, Malina and several others based on male names)
Maura (English-language version of Irish Maire)
Senga (but use with care; it's sometimes said to be 'agnes' backwards, and used to describe a female 'Ned', but is more likely to come from a Gaelic word meaning slender.)

Mirren/Merren (Scots)
Elspeth (Scots)
Ishbel (Scots)
Greer (Scots surname)
Grizel (Scots - looks grim but when said nicely, it's pretty: Grih-SELLE); Annabel/Amabel was originally Scots
Marion (Scots, from French): like Fiona, was popular a couple of generations ago

Thanks for the màiri suggestion, hadn’t considered it due to the influx of Mhairi which annoys my mum due to then incorrectness of it!!

Too near paisley for Mirren also

@FeistySheep we’re near Glasgow so not within a native speaking area unfortunately. Love Lilidh but have a lily in the cousins already.

No idea on gender but we’ve got a male one we’re happy with. Girls have become more of an issue!

Do you stay in the NW at the moment, or are you moving back? Just thinking that if you're not living in a Gaelic speaking area, your child might get annoyed by names like Ceitidh and Lilidh which sound just like Katie and Lily, as they'll always have to correct people's spelling. Maybe it's better to go for a name that doesn't sound exactly like the English?

@NamechangeTTC is it a girl?

I think these are easy to say:

Màiri/Mairi
Catrìona
Iseabail
Caitlin (never actually met anyone with this name!)
Lilidh
Morag/Mòrag
Sìne

Or to please both languages, how about Anna!! Maybe with a more obviously Gaelic middle name?

I’m following this with interest. @FeistySheep and @florascotia2 I think I need your help!

I’d like a Gaelic name for our child. I’m from the west coast and enjoy Gaelic music and culture, and have a (modern) Gaelic name. My husband is from the north east so would prefer something easily “readable” to him...

Scots names also considered

Current thoughts...
Liùsaidh
Alisa
Ceitidh

I’ve been vetoed on most ...

Ooh yes. please name your DC after me! I am Scottish, and therefore FeistySheep is a Scottish name

Looking at my 'I'm on' and I read:
Scottish baby names..
Underneath reads :
Feisty Sheep.
So op, congratulations on dc Feisty Sheep!!

@FeistySheep you are correct, Ffion is a welsh girl’s name and means foxglove. Not Scottish at all. “Ff” is an entire letter in the welsh alphabet and doesn’t feature in any other language in the UK as far as I’m aware?

Haha, what @florascotia2 said! I asked the question about Gaelic names above, because if OP said she wanted a Gaelic name, I was going to advise her to spell it properly and ask a Gaelic speaker how to say it properly!

OP, if you stay in southern England or somewhere and can be sure you and your child-to-be never want to live in a Gaelic speaking area, by all means call your child Ruaridh or Mhairi (or any of the other misspellings suggested above). If you thing living in the Highlands might be a possibility, get it right! Very happy to advise on proper spelling if you find a Gaelic name you like :)

There are lots of lovely non-Gaelic Scottish names however, so if that's what you're after, please ignore me!

I believe Ffion is a Welsh name (but could be wrong).

It seems as if I am always saying this, so I apologise, but

If you want correct Gaelic, the name is Mairi (pronounced 'marry') , not 'Mhairi' (pronounced 'Varry').That is the vocative case (the form of a noun/name used when speaking to someone, as in 'Hello Mhairi').

I know some people in recent years have used the spelling 'Mhairi'
as a name in its own right, but really, that is gramatically incorrect.

ALSO

Fiona is not really a Gaelic name, and the spelling is 'Fiona'. It seems to have been invented as a name - in English - either by 19th cent Scottish author William Sharp (who published under the name 'Fiona MacLeod') or by late 18th cent Scottish writer, James MacPherson.

medievalscotland.org/problem/names/fiona.shtml

For Sharp's life story:
www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-36041

The spelling Ffionne doesn't follow the spelling rules of Scottish Gaelic.

Ainsley
Ishbel
Lorna
Morven

Fraser
Ewan
Graham
Gordon
Ross

Do you want:

• names popular in Scotland
• names which are considered Scottish but which are not Gaelic
• Gaelic names

Can you narrow it down a bit?! There are thousands! Maybe an initial you would like to avoid? If Gaelic, does it need to be easy for non-Gaelic speakers to spell? Does it need to be shorten-able?

I love Mairi.

Hamish is by far the best Scottish name ever!!
Isla or Iona for a girl.
Not bloody Graeme!!

Graeme is not a girl’s name. In Scotland or any part of the UK. And please please do not call your child Andrewina.

Watson
Fraser
Cameron
Hamish
Fergus
Campbell (as first name)
Carson
Ewan
Drew (Andrew)
Malcolm
Jamie
Alistair

I don't have much to add but Bonnie for a girl and Blaine for a boy.

Ailsa
Eilidh
Flora
Kirsty
Catriona
Fiona
Mhairi

Blair
Fraser
Ewart
Struan
Ruaridh
Euan
Iain
Callum
Angus
Lewis

Kirsty
Catriona
Ceitidh
Caitlin
Rona

Archie
Blair
Nicol
Fraser
Struan
Euan
Fergus
Callum / Calum
Gregor
Ross