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Scottish Names

Scotland names from three directions at once — Gaelic in the west and north, Norse in the isles, and Scots and Norman French in the lowlands. A Scottish name therefore tells you roughly where in the country it comes from, which is not true of English names.

Languages behind these names Gaelic Irish Scottish Gaelic uncertain Hebrew Old English

Rankings for

102 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Wallace Wallace means foreigner, and the irony is complete — it is the Anglo-Saxon word for the Britons who were there first, so Scotland's national hero carries a name meaning outsider in his own country.
Boy Scottish #961 in US
Alec Alec means defender of men, and France ranks it 536th — above the United States at 979th, which is not where a Scottish short form of a Greek name would be expected to lead.
Boy Scottish #979 in US
Kelvin Kelvin is the only name on this site that is also an SI unit, and the order runs river to man to measurement — a Glasgow river gave a physicist his title, and the title was given to the scale of absolute temperature.
Boy Scottish #1,036 in US
Brodie Brodie is a boy's name of Scottish origin taken from a place near Forres in Moray.
Boy Scottish #1,038 in US
Lyle Lyle is a boy's name from the Norman French for "the island," and the l at the front is the definite article rather than part of the word.
Boy Scottish #1,047 in US
Gordon Gordon is a Scottish surname turned given name, from a place in Berwickshire whose meaning is not settled — spacious fort is the usual gloss but it is a guess.
Boy Scottish #1,052 in US
Cory Cory has at least three unrelated origins — a Norse island name, an Irish surname and a Greek word for a maiden — and English cannot distinguish them.
Boy Scottish #1,248 in US
Kenny Kenny sits on top of two different Gaelic names that English collapsed into one — Cináed, born of fire, and Coinneach, handsome.
Boy Scottish #1,270 in US
Ross Ross means a headland or a promontory, from Gaelic, and Scotland ranks it 328th — its strongest market, ahead of Ireland at 347th and far ahead of the United States at 1465th.
Boy Scottish #1,465 in US
Malcom Peaked in 1992 · 7,725 births since 1880
Boy Scottish #1,774 in US
Irving Irving names a Scottish river valley, and it reached American use largely through one writer — Washington Irving, who gave English both Rip Van Winkle and the nickname Gotham for New York.
Boy Scottish #1,789 in US
Don Don is a boy's name shortened from Donald, meaning world ruler.
Boy Scottish #1,794 in US
Donnie Donnie ranks 563rd in Ireland and 1804th in the United States, so the country with a fraction of the births ranks it three times higher — a pattern we see when a name goes home.
Unisex Scottish #1,804 in US
Irvin Irvin names a Scottish river valley, and the green water reading describes the water rather than the banks — Brittonic river names usually record color or behavior, not the land beside them.
Boy Scottish #1,936 in US
Glen Glen means a narrow valley, and it is one of very few Gaelic words that English borrowed wholesale rather than adapting to its own sounds.
Boy Scottish #2,033 in US
Robbie Robbie is a unisex name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," a diminutive of Robert.
Unisex Scottish #2,124 in US
Lindsay Lindsay and Lindsey are the same place — a district of Lincolnshire that was effectively an island in fen.
Girl Scottish #2,202 in US
Johnnie Johnnie means God is gracious, a pet form of John.
Unisex Scottish #2,292 in US
Jennie Jennie began as a Scottish pet form of Jean and only later attached to Jennifer, which is a Cornish name with no connection to it.
Girl Scottish #2,303 in US
Angus Angus is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "one choice" or "one strength," from Aonghas.
Boy Scottish #2,378 in US
Stuart Stuart means steward, and the office was literally the sty warden — keeper of the pigs — which rose to run the royal household and then supplied the name of a dynasty.
Boy Scottish #2,535 in US
Kirk Kirk means church, and it is Norse rather than English — the Vikings brought the word to northern England and Scotland, which is why Scots say kirk where English says church.
Boy Scottish #2,568 in US
Murray Murray is a boy's name of Scottish origin from Moray, the northern province, whose name means "sea settlement."
Boy Scottish #2,610 in US
Finlay Finlay is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "fair-haired warrior."
Boy Scottish #2,627 in US
Iona Iona is a girl's name taken from the Hebridean island where Columba founded his monastery — and the island's name exists because a medieval scribe misread a letter.
Girl Scottish #2,684 in US
Janet Janet is a girl's name, a Scottish diminutive of Jane meaning God is gracious.
Girl Scottish #2,797 in US
Sandy Sandy shortens Alexander and Alexandra, meaning defender of the people — and in Scotland it is the standard familiar form of Alexander, which is why it reads as Scottish rather than merely short.
Unisex Scottish #3,020 in US
Minnie Minnie Mouse did not make Minnie popular.
Girl Scottish #3,054 in US
Lesley Lesley is the Scottish spelling and Scotland proves it — a peak of 341 births there in 1974, far above what the country's size would predict against an American high of 981.
Unisex Scottish #4,654 in US
Tavish Peaked in 1993 · 1,067 births since 1970
Boy Scottish #4,763 in US
Ewen Ewen is a boy's name of Irish origin usually read as "born of the yew," the Scottish anglicization of Eòghann.
Boy Scottish #5,104 in US
Fraser Fraser is a boy's name from a Scottish clan surname whose meaning is unknown, and the strawberry flowers on the clan arms are a pun rather than a derivation.
Boy Scottish #5,762 in US
Euan Euan is a boy's name of Irish origin usually read as "born of the yew," and it is one of three separate names that collapse into Owen in English.
Boy Scottish #6,184 in US
Hamish Hamish is a boy's name of Scottish origin, the anglicized form of Seumas — which is the Gaelic for James.
Boy Scottish #6,401 in US
Kenzy Peaked in 2015 · 2,765 births since 1987
Unisex Scottish #6,770 in US
Bessie Bessie is a girl's name meaning God is my oath, a pet form of Elizabeth.
Girl Scottish #6,909 in US
Mirren Mirren is a girl's name taken from a male Irish saint, by way of a Scottish football club, and its meaning has never been settled.
Girl Scottish #7,723 in US
Eilidh Eilidh is a girl's name of Scottish Gaelic origin, generally taken as the Gaelic form of Helen and meaning "bright" or "shining one."
Girl Scottish #8,851 in US
Lyall Peaked in 1929 · 678 births since 1912
Boy Scottish #9,742 in US
Findlay Peaked in 2007 · 2,167 births since 1974
Boy Scottish #11,188 in US
Arran Arran is a boy's name taken from the Scottish island in the Firth of Clyde, whose own name is old enough that its meaning is no longer recoverable.
Boy Scottish #12,354 in US
Mairi Peaked in 1981 · 2,181 births since 1974
Girl Scottish #16,494 in US
Rhona Peaked in 1951 · 3,652 births since 1915
Girl Scottish 3,652 births
Ailsa Ailsa is a girl's name from Ailsa Craig, the volcanic island in the Firth of Clyde that supplies the granite for nearly every curling stone in the world.
Girl Scottish 3,110 births
Ruaridh Ruaridh is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "red king," a shortened spelling of Ruairidh.
Boy Scottish 2,246 births
Innes Innes is a boy's name from a Moray place name meaning "island," and in Scotland it has been used for both sexes.
Boy Scottish 1,750 births
Ruairidh Ruairidh is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "red king," the Gaelic spelling of Rory.
Boy Scottish 1,690 births
Struan Struan is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "stream," taken from a Perthshire estate that is the seat of Clan Donnachaidh.
Boy Scottish 1,665 births

Related Origins