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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Shona

56 replies

MissMoodyMoo · 28/08/2020 18:53

My daughter has a scottish Gaelic name I would like to keep the names scottish

Is shona too boring?

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HollyBen · 28/08/2020 23:55

I like it!!

@AlternateNamShe seriously!?!?! I am Scottish and live in Scotland. My daughter has a Gaelic name. We spend 4 years in Asia. No one even thought to comment on it as they were totally used to names from different cultures. She loves her name as do we

AlwaysLatte · 29/08/2020 00:03

Not knowing the name, I would assume Seonaid was pronounced the same as Sinead. Shona's alright, except I went to primary school with two Shonas and that was back in the late 70s so I always associate it as old fashioned but not old fashioned enough to become fashionable, iyswim.

bananabeachhouse · 29/08/2020 01:06

@MissMoodyMoo

Scotswoman here! Shona sounds nice as a name itself, but it's definitely considered a middle-aged name in Scotland, if that affects your decision at all. If you like Scottish names, some I think are quite nice are - (with phonetic spelling just to give full effect)

Iona : meaning is purple jewel
Eilidh (" 'A'-Lee") : meaning is sun ray
Mhairi (V"ah-ree") : meaning is bitter
Bonnie : meaning is beautiful
Mai ("Me") meaning is pearl
Annabel meaning is beautiful grace

My name's Caitlin as well, which means 'pure' if that interests you.
If you want to go slightly more hardcore on the Scots names;

Aileana ("ah lee an ah") : *meaning is from the green meadow"
Forba / Forbia : meaning is headstrong
Inghean : ("ing hee yan") meaning is daughter
Ailsa: ("ale suh") : meaning is supernatural victory
Flora: meaning is goddess of flowers
Maidie: meaning is young woman
Nathaira / Nathara: meaning is snake

Not sure if this helps but thought I might contribute haha!

Bouncingbelle · 29/08/2020 02:47

Love it!

Uncommon but not weird, don’t know why it isn’t more popular!

LunaLoved · 29/08/2020 12:27

I love it. A normal but underused name.

florascotia2 · 29/08/2020 15:01

Beware most baby-name websites - they are usually wrong.
Please forgive me, but here are just some examples, from the list above:

Iona does not mean purple jewel - it means 'Place of the Yew Tree'. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona

Mhairi is the vocative case of the name Mairi, the Scottish Gaelic version of Mary. Grammatically speaking, 'Mhairi' should only used when talking to someone called Mairi, though in recent years it has been used as a separate name. It's pronounced 'Varry' (listen here: forvo.com/search/Mhairi/sco/ )
(In the same way, Hamish is the (anglicised) vocative case of Seamas, but has become a separate name.)

Nathair does mean snake, but it's used for reptiles, not people. It specifically means 'viper' or 'adder' ie a poisonous snake.

See Gaelic dictionary here: www.faclair.com/?txtSearch=Snake
And it's not pronounced Nathara - more like NAH-hir. You can listen here www.faclair.com/Listen/nathair.mp3

Maidie is not widely used as a Scottish girl name. It's more of a pet-name. The only example I can think of was Maidie Dickson, wife of comedian Chic (Charles) Murray. They were famous mid 20th century, from the 1940s-1960s. I think - but I might be wrong - that her given name was Maud.

Otherwise, Maidie is not particularly Scottish. It is an affectionate nickname based on the English-languge word 'maid' (young girl). www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198610601.001.0001/acref-9780198610601-e-5469?rskey=DpdpFU&result=4694

Maisie is however a well-known Scottish nickname or short form of Margaret.

Annabel does not mean 'beautiful grace'; it derives from Latin 'Amabilis' which means 'loveable' www.behindthename.com/name/amabel

bananabeachhouse · 29/08/2020 15:51

@florascotia2 Fuck me Grin Shows me right for trusting the internet! - even if the meanings are total nonsense, I still think the names are cute! Definitely do a bit more research though, I just found a list and picked out the ones I thought were nice. Hey ho Smile

GlassOfProsecco · 29/08/2020 16:00

Definitely dated, I'm afraid. Along with Fiona.

Maybe Mhairi?

Eilidh, Isla, Ailsa, Iona are popular.

MikeUniformMike · 29/08/2020 16:00

@florascotia2, what you say is so similar to my findings with the sites that list welsh baby names. They usually include nouns and adjectives, some of them quite ridiculous as name suggestions, some are misspelt, and sometimes girls' names are listed as boys' names and vice versa.

Iona is also a welsh girl's name, but pronounced Yonn-a, and it is a shortened version of the word for January (Ionawr), and is a bit dated.

florascotia2 · 29/08/2020 16:12

banana Thank you so much for accepting my comments with such good grace - I was afarid, after I'd posted, that I'd been rude.

Mike very interesting that your experience in Wales is the same.

Prosecco I wonder how long it will be before names (all nice) such as Shona and Fiona and Janet and Christina are no longer seen as rather old-fashioned but become new and exciting once more.? (In the same way that -say- Elsie and Mabel have recently started to become popular among English-language names.)

micc · 29/08/2020 16:56

I went to school with a Shona! Great name, I like that spelling too. It's different but easy to say and sounds nice :)

SBTLove · 29/08/2020 16:57

Eilidh isn’t A-lee, it’s as-lay it’s not a harsh sound of lee, my DD named by a Gaelic speaker.

weebarra · 29/08/2020 17:03

As-lay? I've never heard it pronounced like that and it's a very common name in Scotland.

GlassOfProsecco · 29/08/2020 17:17

Forgot about Isobel - my daughter's middle name - she was nearly an Eilidh but couldn't face a lifetime of her having to spell or pronounce it.

Or Ishbel. Becoming more popular.

My friend has a Vaila - named after the Island off Shetland.

SBTLove · 29/08/2020 17:47

Sorry touched s in error 🙄
*Aa-lay

Flappingflamingo · 29/08/2020 17:49

I was born in mid 80's so started school 89ish. I remember being in my very early years of school with a girl called shona, I always thought it was sophisticated and glamorous. Obviously I didn't know either of those words at that age but I loved it and always have done. Never met another one...

Roseburn · 29/08/2020 17:50

I think it's lovely.

Really pretty and fresh.

Merename · 29/08/2020 17:59

I know two Seonaids/ Shonas in their 30s in Scotland, so not middle aged, but feels dated to me. Gaelic spelling is preferable to me and I’d assume many non Scots would recognise the spelling on this name when they wouldn’t to others.

TheVanguardSix · 29/08/2020 18:04

Shona's a beautiful name, OP.

celestebellman · 29/08/2020 18:15

I was at school with a few Shonas in the nineties so sounds very dated to me but I guess it’s a pretty sound. Also knew a Seonaid which was pronounced Shona.

I really love Mhairi and Iona. And Isla but it’s very popular especially in Scotland.

weebarra · 29/08/2020 19:29

I like Vaila and Aila.

mathanxiety · 30/08/2020 08:40

florascotia2 and MikeUniformMike - you should see what constitutes an 'Irish name'...

Smile
ImaSababa · 30/08/2020 09:15

I really like it.

MikeUniformMike · 30/08/2020 11:26

@mathanxiety, someone told me Oliwia was an Irish name.

BashfulClam · 30/08/2020 11:40

What about Siobhan (shi-vaun)? Is it Irish though?