Scottish baby name??

[jacks1972]

Our baby is due in January, not sure if it's a boy or girl and we are struggling to agree on any name...

we have a very scottish surname and DH will only consider a scottish firstname, I don't really see why but I'll go with it for now...

Also, some of the names I like DH thinks are 'Public school' types!! Can't win!

Some names I like [scottish and non-scottish] are:

Finlay
Isaac
Seth
Hamish - maybe
Fraser - not sure

Maisie
Grace
Isobel
Eve

Any other suggestions??
Please help!

x

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

Lindsay (not quite sure if this is Scottish though)

It is indeed and means Linden Tree. Originally it was masculine but has become more feminine over the years. You do still get boys called Lindsay though.

Can we all guess what my name is? And yes I'm a Scot

Forgot to say 3 of my 4 boys have very Scottish names one of which has been listed here yet...

I wanted to call DS1 Struan but dh came back with 'all over the place' which put me off a bit.

Sheena
Shona
Kerry
Kirsty
Christie

Craig
Magnus
Alexander
Sandy
Murray
Duncan
Alec
Dougald

Magnus is fantastic!

Skihorse - you're allowed.

BEffect - you were allowed, then you said you "live" in St Andrews. I think you'll find you "stay" in St Andrews

Thought of some more that go well with a Mc name without sounding too Brigadoon:

Alastair
Donald
Douglas

All of these can be adapted into a choice of nicknames (though Sandy for Alexander can't be beat imo) and don't sound like you're trying to batter your English neighbours with a claymore whilst shouting AH'M SCOATTISH YE KNAW!!

I'm Scottish, have Scottish ancestry both sides, but I wouldn't ever call a kid of mine Hamish, Morag, Donalda etc much as I like those names. I'm from the central belt and it would be as alien to me as calling them Ramon and Mercedes.

I've only ever met one Gaelic speaker in my life and despite being Scottish myself, had to ask how to pronounce Eilidh when I met a girl with that name at uni.

Duncan
Alex/Alistair
Mungo!!
Douglas

Flora
Maura
Lorna
Maggie

I'm from the central belt too and love those type of Scottish names. I'm planning on using them when I have kids but they don't seem at all alien to me as I know several people with names like Hamish and Angus.

And I don't care if it sounds as though we're trying to batter the English over the head with a claymore.They're lovely names imho and I fail to see the problem with a very Scottish sounding name.
It's no worse than the Spanish having very Spanish sounding names, or the French doing the same surely?

Thanks everyone for your messages, very interesting reading!! Most of the Finlays and Lachlans I know were old farmers from Speyside! Hardly Edinburgh Public School attendees at all!

My Surname is actually Hamilton which is why I am slightly unsure about Hamish as a first name [Hammy Hammy???] but I do love the name by itself.

Love Finlay but often wondered how to pronounce Fionnlagh - thanks for explaining!

xx

Hi again, I was thinking about this yesterday.

There are some more "standard" scottish names I don't think anyone else has put in - Neil and Andrew. I actually know someone called Andrew Hamilton who is a very nice man.

Dh and I have had this convo so many times as he is a Scot living in South East England. He really wanted Scottish names for dc's but we have not done it yet, and now think they may sound odd with our brood of OT names!
However, we nearly have, or would still use

Dougal
Douglas
Mungo
Hector
Gregor

Morag
Ailsa

one of dd's mn is Sheena.

kirsty
heather

kenzie
lorcan

My favourites are Shona for a girl (sadly I can't use this one because I've got a relative with this name).

For a boy I like Angus, but I also know a relative from DH's side with this name. It's ashame because I love it.

Lauchlan is a beautiful name for a boy - may consider this for baby no2 on the way (if it's a boy!).

I have an Isla Maraidh and a Kirstie Iona.

I love Flora (my great-grandmothers name).

I adore Callan, Struan and Ross for a boy.

sb6699 love your DC names. Callan sounds lovely too

Awwww, thanks lovechoc.

Glad to see Douglas getting a few mentions, gave it to DS2 as a middle name and was then annoyed when I produced DS3 and had used it up.

I live in a small posh town and know many Camerons, Struans, Lornes, Angus's etc. Quite glad that i gave mine plain names. DS1 is the only Tom in the school!

Ishbel is lovely - and I really like Magnus! Also like Flora - really no worries about margarine!

In my time I have met two Scottish women called Senga (Agnes backwards!) which is a bit odd and maybe someone can enlighten me as to what that is about. Quite like it tho'.

I personally have a very Scottish name (Scottish on my dads side and my soon to be returned to maiden name is Scottish so what's the fuss about Scottish first names and Scottish surnames eh?) which has been mentioned only once so far (and is, I suspect, quite unusual) and I am very happy!

Only read a few of the posts, I met a little boy called Hamish a few weeks ago and seriously considered changing DS's(5yrs) name there and then! I love it soo much

Hamish makes me think of my mum & dad's cat. Or Robert Carlyle in Hamish Macbeth, of course.

Ross?

Beware of using the original Gaelic spelling of a name (e.g. Fionnlagh) where a more popular alternative exists. Do you really want your dc to have to spell their name for everyone every single time?

DH has a name (Scottish) that has a number of different spellings that are all equally common and he gets a bit p'd off with having to clarify every time. At least people know how to pronounce his name, though.

For boys, Finlay, Calum, Struan, Cameron, Ruaridh (an exception to that rule) are all popular hereabouts.

Here are my top picks for what it's worth:
James
Andrew
Alastair

Oona
or Una
Megan
Catriona
Lorna

I have a lovely Grand Daughter who is nine yrs old and her name is Finlay Sheila, the other one who is 20mths is Isla Heather

Hi guys. Im scottish and I have 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. I've tried to pass my heritage on. Our youngest is called Blurt (shes a girl). I saw Blur at t in the park and my bfs name starts with a t. We also have Malcolm (tucker), William (Wallace), Gordon (brown). Scottish heroes

Thanks for this thread- it's gie me na end o' gigglin!

As a Scottish exile whose lives south of the border for over a decade this thread has been great reading- especially on the accent front! I too was skelped if I so much as uttered a proper glasgay word as a bairn and now I am ridiculed by friends and family for having lost my native accent?!?

Thankfully I managed to find one of those many Anglicised Scots-men so am married to a ginger haired Lachlan Mc with a Cambridge Uni degree and an accent to go with that.

He won't allow any baby names other than Scottish ones... Squaever, as a Scottish native living in the deep South with a semi-Scottish OH am I allowed that?

Thankfully I love the modern-traditional Scottish names and think they sound better with our Mc-Surname.

My favourite are

Rory Douglas
Struan
Ewan
Stewart
Gregory
Arran
Lewis
Coll

Ailsa (if I have twins I threaten to call them Ailsa and Craig)
Iona
Shona
Skye
Heather