Donald or Donalbain

I’m not particularly a fan of Donald. I like Scottish names in general though. Both my children have such names. There was one Donald in my class and it was seen as quite unattractive then (I’m 40). I associate it with the duck more than Trump though I still do make that connection.

If I really liked the name I’d wait 5 years and see how it’s perceived then.

I agree with LeChiffre26 - people in Scotland won't be put off the name Andrew because of the former Duke of Inverness.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, our flag is the St Andrew's cross, St Andrews is our oldest University.

I know six Donalds, all of whom are over 50. But I know a lot more Andrews, including two in their twenties and one toddler.

I'm surprised to see Reggie rising in the current Scottish ranks.

I think that's a bit of an outlandish claim - -Andrew has great historical significance in Scotland although it is heard much less today like Donald.

Why not go full out and call him "Adolf"? The bad Adolf is also dead 🤷‍♀️

If you name your child Donald now - absolutely everyone will think you're a batshit Trump-supporter. Maybe you are and that's why you don't care, but to pretend people won't make the association is just stupid.

I do like the name Murray. This was quite common in NZ for several generations but does t seem to suggest an old man, in my opinion. So OP you could use urray as a first or second name to honour your uncle.
Do you like Craig?
I’ve never been able to understand how Americans pronounce it Kreg

Donald is like calling your child Adolf in 2026! Because of globalisation and social media, it absolutely is something to consider. Most people wouldn’t use Andrew because of Prince Andrew, to answer your question. The family name is certainly preferable

How many girls do you think were called Myra after the Moors Murderers? Of course names become synonymous with bad people. Obviously some nasty people's names are less uncommon (eg Ian ) . I'd put Donald in the middle of those extremes in Scotland. I certainly wouldn't say it would pass comment free.

Donalbain means Donald the Fair - so it's never really been a first name (despite OP's family's apparent usage). I'd just go for Donal (or Domnhall) but don't think of that as specifically Scottish.

I went to school with more Ronnie's than Donnie's. But Ronald and Donald were never considered anything other than pretty unattractive old fashioned names , destined to be shortened.

This is true, but Donald isn't a tenuous historical connection to someone unpleasant. It's very current. He's currently sanctioning shooting young mothers in the face in their own neighbourhoods.

I wouldn't name my child after a duck. Or a felon.

Better not call a child Peter due to a notorious mass murder 🙄. Virtually any name could have a tenuous connection to somebody unpleasant.

Exactly. Well said! 👏

Right now, not Donald because we don’t know how things will pan out, you don’t want to saddle a child with a name which in 5 years time makes people think you are a supporter! Of course in a couple of years it might be Donald is no more (not a young man) and America has calmed down because the orange mans lackeys were just appeasing him and didn’t really believe the stuff they are spouting. We can’t tell but today I would not call a baby Donald

SP has difficulty with middle names as there are only so many spaces so you often get a middle name cut in half.

@Spinnylights , was looking for the England & Wales figures. They're here, Baby names in England and Wales: 2024 - Office for National Statistics, or Baby name explorer.

The first or middle name is probably misleading because it's a name that's been for a very long time, and might be used a lot as a 'middle' name, whereas Keir or Damian wouldn't.

When I was at school, Thomas, David, William and John were very popular 'middle' names (e.g. Alan registered as William Alan or Alan William,or Steve registered as Stephen John or John Stephen).

Definitely.

It looks as though Scotlandspeople includes middle names, and the NRS doesn't. And Donald is overwhelmingly used as a middle name, possibly because it's a grandfather's name.

Sorry op Scottish have now decreased family members called Donald would immediately think Trump if a baby was called that today.

So many other names you could consider but if you go with either you need thicker skin to deal with the responses you'll get.

I do like Douglas, Dougal, Murray even a good old James.

Sorry, just seen that you said where they came from. That's interesting.

Where did you get those figures? I used the government website, Scotlandspeople, which doesn't separate first and middle names? It's odd that our figures are so different.

Poor kid. No to Donald.

@Spinnylights, Scotland.
I got the figures from Babies First Names 2024 - National Records of Scotland (NRS)

There don't seem to be figures for 'England', only 'England & Wales'.(they're on the ONS site).

Is that in England?

In 2024 Scotland had 126 uses of Donald as either a first or middle name, 28 uses of Damian as either a first or middle name, and 20 uses of Keir as either a first or middle name.

I love Magnus.
Murray and Cameron are good names too.