Scottish boy's name suggestions please

[ItsMeYourCathy]

My granny was from Shetland and has passed away now. She was very proud of her Shetland heritage and so is my mum. I'd like to give my eagerly anticipated son a Scottish middle name to honour his (rather diluted now!)background.

The first name we've chosen is Nathaniel and our last name starts with P. I asked my mum for family names and none of them were suitable.

I quite like Hamish.

Suggestions please, especially from Scottish ladies who know that the names are Scotch and not just 'Celtic'

Thanks a lot xx

---------------------

Hi - this thread is a little old. If you’re looking for a Scottish baby name, find the most popular here. MNHQ

[MavisEnderby]

Ross
Finlay
Rowan
Donald
Struan
(just seen last post and am really liking Torin but I thought it was irish)

[ellangirl]

Well, it's a Norse name, and those vikings did get all over the place!

[eatyourveg]

Hamish is fab - stick with that

[TorianaTollywobbles]

How about Logan?

Think it is Scottish

[KateF]

Friend of mine has Scottish heritage and her boys are Callum and Eachan (Gaelic form of Hector I think).

[weegiemum]

With a Shetland heritage I don't know if you would want to go Gaelic but some ideas for Gaelic names:

Aonghas (Angus)
Tormond (Norman)
Domhnall (Donald)
Uisdean (Hugh)
Uilleam (William)

[Newgolddream]

Im Scottish and have 3 boys although not sure theyre Scottish names lol 2 are I think - Connor and Finlay.

[AlpinePony]

I lived in Shetland for a while - what about using a traditionally "Zetland" surname? Particularly if you know which island or area she was from? Interesting link here: www.britishsurnames.co.uk/1881census/Zetland+(Shetland) - I knew an awful lot of Andersons and Campbells back then.

[AlpinePony]

(not in 1881 I might add )

[FalachFead]

Magnus and Torquil are the 2 Scottish/Norse names that Iove..

[ItsMeYourCathy]

Thanks for all the suggestions and links!
Have come across the fact that the most popular surname on Shetland during my Gran's lifetime there was Smith! Brilliant! Her name was Hutchinson.
Was discussing this with DH last night- definately given us lots of food for thought. Thank you all very much xx
It made me think though, if my Gran was stil here and I asked her for a suggestion then she'd probably pick Elvis!!

[daimbardiva]

I love Torin - would be very fitting for you I think. I really want to use Hamish - but dh is having none of it.

[PricklyThistle]

To reflect Shetland roots, you shouldn't really be looking at a Gaelic name . Shetland was Scandinavian then Scottish - with no Gaelic influence.
The names in the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) were pretty 'normal' old fashioned names -William, James, John etc. Norse names are now used - I know some of Orcadians with the name Thorfinn, Sigurd, Erland, Erik.

[dancemum]

names I like are

Cameron, Campbell, Alasdair, Blane, Finlan, Finlay, Stirling, Lachlan, Melrose, Conneach (Con-Nick), Connall, Finnean, Oisian (Osh-An), Taran or Torin

The Zetland names are cool! Smith is a great first name, I think, esp. with a family connection. Smith Lachlan or Smith Finnean sound great.

From that list, Sinclair and Tait are good names.

[BackwardsInHighHeels]

Don't know if you've found this by yourself already, but there's a list of Shetland names here:

www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/shetland/index.html

Which includes some funny spellings of names we're more used to, including some which I don't think have been suggested yet, like Gregor and Malcolm (though Malcolm can be shortened to Malky, which is Glaswegian for headbutt - as in, giving someone "the Malky", but if you're not in the West of Scotland, you're probably okay :)).

[jellybeans]

Ross, Lachlan

[Asinine]

I was going to say Douglas or Cameron, I see they have already come up. A lovely man I knew who was a Shetlander died last year was a douglas.

[ItsMeYourCathy]

Thanks again for all the suggestions! I really appreciate the effort you've gone through to help me! Thanks particularly for the links - many a nosey hour spent trawling through that lot looking for my family. I found some sites with old photos on too and it was nice to imagine my Gran living there, walking around the island etc.

I do feel I have to point out though that I did say I'm avoiding 'Celtic' as found in internet searches as they can be irish and the whole point is that I want something Scottish / Sheltand for my Gran.

Thanks again! xx

[muminthesun]

Love Magnus

[TheMadHouse1234]

I want to give my baby a Scottish name too. Don't know if we're having a boy or girl yet, but boys names we've got on our list are

Lachlan
Struan
Fraser
Hamish

[louisianablue2000]

If you want something to reflect the fact that your Granny came from Shetland then DON'T use anything Gaelic. I'm from Orkney, the most popular Norse names there are Magnus, Thorfinn, Sigurd, Rognavald, Harald, Erik, Erland, Olaf. Otherwise just standard names, common in Scotland and England.

The other option is to use your Granny's surname as a middle name, that is very common in Scotland (to use a maternal surname as a middle name) and is why so many surnames end up as first names, they move across because of being used as middle names.

[pinkandyellowbutterfly]

Rory - Scottish red King
Andrew - Patron Saint of Scotland

[WinkyWinkola]

Torran

[DuPainDuVinDuFromage]

I love Hamish and Archie, but also Hector and Seoras, which I don't think have been mentioned. But as people have said, maybe it's better to go down the Scandinavian route given that your connection is with Shetland.

[soontobeslendergirl]

I'd be tempted to get a decent map of he Isles and pick a suitable place name. My gran on my mums sides family came from that area though maybe it was Orkney and not shetland i'd need to go look it up again - Family names are Inkster, Marwick and Stark I think.

I think St Olaf is associated with shetland too.

Or you could go for something just normally scottish - a lot of Good suggestions so far. could also add Craig. Cairn and has Andrew been said?