Scottish Names for Boys

The 6th century Irish saint Mirin emigrated to Scotland and now is the patron saint of both the Glasgow suburb of Paisley and the game of football. Mirren is one modern spelling; the Cornish Merryn, best known as the name of the seacoast town St. Merryn, is also related. The name is usually used for girls.

Often used in England, but here likely to be confused with the feminine Nicole. Nicol Williamson was a Scottish-born actor once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando".

Lively and engaging Scottish surname, particularly appropriate for a boy born on Monday.

Rarely used un-Gaelic-sounding Scottish name with literary associations to Erskine Caldwell, author of Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre.

Best known to most as a brand of Whisky, Ballantine is a Scottish surname relating to the Celtic god Bal. It has potential as a off-the-beaten-track boys name that is still familiar. Ballantine is the brand name of a whiskey, a beer, and a publishing imprint.

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art

For towheads with ties to Scotland -- in theory, anyway.

An old name still occasionally heard in the U.K., but still and perhaps forever a foreigner in the U.S. Can be spelled Ranulf.

There's a Perth in Scotland and a bigger one in Australia; this name could make a statement similar to Heath.

Unusual and unappealing.

At one time associated with the fictional detective Bulldog Drummond, this formal surname name does boast the cute nickname Drum.

An old French surname derived from baille, meaning "fortification" – the same root as the English word bailey. The surname was borne by an aristocratic English family descended from French nobility.

A nice enough last name that turns supercilious as a first.

Distinguished actor Hume Cronyn (who shared his father's name) put this unusual choice in the lexicon.

The surname of the influential early Scottish inventor of logarithms could make an inspiring middle name choice for a mathematically inclined family.

Historically interesting via the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which supported the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

Attractive placename/surname with a somewhat aristocratic feel.