Mclean

[KateTTC123]

As a first name?

I like surnames as first names: Crawford, Murray, Cameron are a few of my favourites.

powerless I am with Francis I have no real objection to Americans calling their dds Mackenzie or McKenzie but it is a fact that originally the name was Mac (son of) Kenzie. Mac means 'son of' in the original language of the name and it is a simple lack of education to suggest otherwise.

What about Campbell ?

While I get the whole tradition of sons taking mothers maiden name as a first name normally the Mc/Mac was dropped.

McGregor became Gregor
McDonald became Donald
Richardson became Richard
Ferguson became Fergus
Other names Stewart, Graham, Mitchell, Fraser kept the exact form
McLean never heard of a Lean and no I would never consider it.

For the poster who thought there was a difference between Mc/Mac they are both son of. Gaelic also has Nic which is daughter off but I've never seen it used outwith Gealic circles / BBC Alba. And I believe most girls are given Mc/Mac on their birth certificates even within the Gealic speaking communities.

Mackenzie/Mckenzie means ‘son of Kenzie’. It is a literal translation in Gaelic language. There is no ‘tradition’ around it being a girls name, only a recent American trend to use it at such. In fact Mac and Mc mean exactly the same thing - Mc is simply a contraction of Mac
www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/macarthur/595/

Neither are traditionally girls names despite recent American naming trends.

I love Angus. Lovely, strong name. Never mind what MIL thinks. This is your baby, not hers. I'd go with Angus.

I don't like MacLean as a first name. Personal taste though, I suppose.

@Powerless you can call your daughter what you like and I don't object to girls being called M(a)cKenzie, it's a perfectly acceptable name and no-one has said otherwise. But don't argue with a lot of Scots about the origin of the name. It may be used by a lot of people as a girl's first name these days but that does not change its origins as a surname meaning 'son of Kenzie'.

I'm Scottish and my first though was Die Hard

I know a gentleman called Mac, he is McKinnon in full.

The Scottish names we had on our list but never used in the end we're Dougal, Douglas and Hamish

McLean as a first name just sounds stupid. I’d snigger if my kids came home and told me there was a kid in their class with that name. It’s a nice middle name, there are tons of other nice Scottish first names.

Powerless, you should stop. You’re just making yourself sound a bit dim.

From Wiki
MacLean, Maclean, McLean, McClean, McLaine, and McClain is a Gaelic surname (MacGill-Eain in Scottish Gaelic). There are several different origins for the surname McLean/MacLean, however, the clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic MacGilleEathain. This was the patronymic form of the personal name meaning "servant of (Saint) John" or the "son of the servant of Saint John"

So - John, or Iain, maybe Euan?

powerless I am with Francis I have no real objection to Americans calling their dds Mackenzie or McKenzie but it is a fact that originally the name was Mac (son of) Kenzie. Mac means 'son of' in the original language of the name and it is a simple lack of education to suggest otherwise.

Totally agree. It's the same as people using Beau for a girl.

Francis is right. Sorry, Yanks, but Mackenzie is not a girl's name, you may think so, but you also name your kids a load of made up stupid sounding hooey that makes it hard for you to be taken seriously.

Struan. Struan is an excellent Scottish boy's name.

MacKenzie is the Son of Kenneth. Mac Coinnich. For women it would have been Nic Choinnich. The Nic is the abbreviation of Nighean Mhic shortened to Nic - daughter of the son of Kenneth (and on and on..). Kenzie is the anglicised corruption. Coinneach or Kenneth may have been comely but thats not the point. As a girls name neither the Mc nor Mac make much difference to it actual roots. Its a Gàidhlig clan name not a traditional girls name despite it modern day popularity in the US.

Struan is the Gàidhlig for little stream. Sruth - strea, Sruthan streamlet. A common enough name and each to his own.

Lewis?

It's my Ds2 middle name and dh loved birdwatching there

Good post MaybesAye. Really wish mumsnet has a like button.

@figgygal I already have a Harris so Lewis won't work sadly. I like Island names best but don't want to sound like a pair of pet fish!
I don't know the gender yet anyway so might be a girl and save all the angst of picking another boy's name!

How about a Norse or Norman name since they held Scotland for centuries, too? Magnus or Ranald?

Could you get away with Arran?

For girls Ailsa or Vaila might not be too obvious either :)

or Cara, Shona, Eilean, Rona ?

Kenneth or Martin for a boy, still islands

Whats wrong with having a Harris and a Lewis?
If you have a girl you could stick with the Island theme, Iona, Aisla, Skye,

Alternatively for another boy Craig, Ben?

WaxOnFeckOff....Kenneth or Martin for a boy, still islands

Where are those Islands?

Nothing wrong with all islands. I know a family of Arran, Iona and Ailsa. Dogs are Bute and Canna!

Inch Kenneth (Innis Choinnich) Mull
Isle Martin (Eilean Mhàrtainn) Summer Isles

Edna for a girl (Eithne), the Irish princess and mother of St Blane who, legend has it, came to Iona to give birth to him.