Scottish Names for Girls

An invention of the eighteenth-century romantic poet James Macpherson, in his epic cycle about Ossian, a legendary Celtic hero. In Poland, where it was popular at the start of the 20th century, the spelling is Malwina, and it's also had some use in other Eastern European countries.

Photographer Diane Arbus named her daughter Doon, inspired by the sand dunes she walked among when pregnant. Used this way, Doon might be considered a nature name, a refashioning of the word dune. But Doon might also stem from the familiar Scottish surname Dunn or Dunne, which means brown or dark, originally used for a dark-haired person.

Teasagh or Teasag, which can be Anglicized as Jessie, is a Scottish form of Jean, which itself originated as a Scottish feminine form of John. Scotswomen called Jessie are more likely to be properly named Teasagh than Jessica.

Highly unusual water name -- and actor Colin surname -- with a Scottish burr. Firth derives from the Old Norse word fjord.

Evocative of the sand dunes at the beach, Doone is a relatively rare surname found in Scotland, Ireland and England. It was recently used with this spelling by Olympic medalist Amanda Beard; photographer Diane Arbus named her daughter Doon, inspired, yes, by walks along the sand dunes during her pregnancy.

While actress Glenn Close didn't inspire many parents to give their daughters her name in particular, she did help launch a general trend toward boy names for girls.

Somewhat flat-footed spelling variation.

Ilisa is a spelling variant that's less appealing than the original.

Among the more masculine of the short unisex B names, Brice is less popular than Bryce for both sexes. There were 240 boys named Brice in the US in one recent year, versus only five girls -- and more than ten times that many of both genders named Bryce.

Musical choice that might work great in the middle. Alternative in all its forms, Fife and sister name Fifer are Scottish names for girls that can make a new twist on Piper.

This anagram of Agnes is not related to that name; rather it comes from the Gaelic word seang meaning "slender".

A Pam for the modern age, improved by a harder edge and a tad less prissiness.

Simple ancient name of a Celtic goddess, but her friends might sound like they were asking for more.

Kerr, a simple, unusual unisex middle-name choice, can be pronounced either car or kehr.