Scottish names

[Scottishflower]

Here are our favourites at the moment, thoughts and other suggestions welcome. We would like something of Scottish/Gaelic/Celtic origin which isn't popular. Thanks. X

Girls - Marsaili, Alba, Saorsa
Boys - Conall, Munro, Cullen,

Boy - Cailean (pronounced Callan) and girls names, I always loved Mairi (mah-ri). Both Scottish Gaelic.

Innes

Cora

Girls
Morven
Catriona
Morag
Lorna
Isla
Iona
Erin
Meghan

Boys
Connor
Ross
Craig
Aiden
Andrew
Keith
Aaron
Callum
Alexander

Marsaili is nice.

As I'm sure you know, 'Alba' is the name of the BBC's Gaelic TV channel, as well as the Gaelic name for Scotland the country. But perhaps this is not an issue for you. In recent years, Alba certainly has been used as a personal name as well. There were 42 Scottish babies with that name in 2019.

Saorsa (=Liberty) is a nice name but might perhaps be difficult for people outside Scotland to pronounce. Two ways of saying it here (though I have only ever heard the first) :
forvo.com/word/saorsa/
There are also two Irish pronounciations, different again.

Like 'Alba', Saorsa has only fairly recently been used as a name. There was one baby with the name as you spell it in 2019, and 19 with the more usual Irish spelling (Saoirse).

Other possible names:
Ealasaid
Eamhair
Floraidh
Catriona
Liusaidh
Eilish
Place names: Iona, Vaila, Morven, Ailsa...

I think Murdo is nicer than Munro.

Eilidh or Kirsty for girls.

Murray or Lewis for boys.

I'm surprised there were only 42 baby Albas last year since I thought the name was fairly common.

Gingerkittycat It is quite a low number, isn't it? Reference here (see Table 4): www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/names/babies-first-names/babies-first-names-2019/list-of-data-tables

I have two very Scottish named sons but they are more obvious than your choices. I don't like Cullan at all because of 'Cull' which isn't a nice word really. But Munro is ok, I do prefer Murdo though.

The less common names I have heard in recent years for boys (at least where I live which is Glasgow) are Struan, Tavish and Torrin.

Girls are harder, I liked Mirren and Alisa but ultimately my daughter got a non-Scottish name because there weren't any I liked. Alba isn't that common, I only know one. The most common girls names here by a country mile are Eilidh and Isla, there are loads of them round here!

Cora is lovely, I'd have used that for my daughter but we have one in the family so couldn't.

Cora is nice but it isn't Scottish or Gaelic. It is originally ancient Greek
(via Latin, from 'Kore', which means 'maiden'; that was another name for Persephone).

Ah, there you go - not sure why I thought it was Scottish! My daughter has a Greek name, there are some lovely choices from those origins as well.

Exactly as you say, mistermagpie
There were 364 babies in Scotland called Isla in 2019, and 162 called Eilidh.

www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/names/babies-first-names/babies-first-names-2019/list-of-data-tables (see Table 4)

I agree; many Greek names are lovely.

Fergus/Fearghas
Ruaridh (my own son is Ruairi, but he has the Irish spelling)
Duncan
Alasdair

Ailsa
Eilidh
Fiona
Catriona
Sheena

Alba... it’s pronounced Alpa, just in case op goes for that and didn’t realise.

Although Alba has recently being used as a name in Scotland because it's Gaelic for Scotland it's an established name in countries like Spain. So maybe some of the babies with that name in Scotland are from immigrants.

I'm actually trying to choose a Scottish boys names at the moment!
My current list is

Fergus,
Lachlan,
Alistair,
Gregor,
Callen,
Logan,
Duncan

I'm living in England so looking for the "easier" spellings!

My favourites by a long way are Marsaili and Munro. Great choices.

Thanks so much everyone for some lovely ideas and thoughts on the names. Sooo difficult to decide but hoping something just clicks when wee baby is born. Any more suggestions please feel free to share my way 😊. Thanks. X

Ailish
Ailsa
Alba

Caoimhe
Ceana*
Isla
Lorna
Maren
Marsaili
Morven
Orla
Una

Caelan
Caleb
Calvin
Ciaran
Euan
Lachlan
Magnus

Ceana is more usually seen as Kenna (that's how it's pronouced) as in the name of the respected Gaelic singer :en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenna_Campbell

Maren is Scandinavian

Orla and Una are indeed of Gaelic origin but are more usually associated with Ireland, so are Caelan/Caolan and Ciaran. Caleb is Hebrew, from the Bible. Calvin is French in origin.

@florascotia2 you seem very knowledgeable :), would love anymore suggestions if you have any? Really want to find something we love that's not too popular. X

Thank you flower but I don't really know that much. There are other posters who know more, I am sure.

There are not that many current Gaelic names for girls. Because of the influence of the Church from the early Middle Ages onwards, most Scottish children were given Scots or Gaelic versions of standard Christian names. ( Jessie or Seonaid (Shonnich) for Janet (= little Jane), for example.)

There was a romantic/antiquarian revival in the late 18th/19th cent, inspired by the novels and poems of Sir Walter Scott and other writers.
Scott made people think of Catriona (a version of the Christendom-wide Catherine); MacPherson invented Fiona, though it was loosely based on an early Gaelic name.

There are other modern names based on very early examples, such as Fenella or Ferelith (both of which I like). Dervla (better known in Ireland) would be another one.

This site might be of interest
medievalscotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven/women.shtml
and this
www.behindthename.com/submit/names/usage/medieval-scottish
and with caution this:
www.namenerds.com/scottish/scotschick.html