Scottish Last Names

The eponymous TV hero has inspired a handful of parents to use his name for their sons. Macgyver first appeared on the charts in 1989, four years after the original television series began.

A rare but distinguished Scottish name. The original Galloway is a region in south-west Scotland, and the meaning ("stranger-Gaels") refers to its mixed population of Scandinavian and Gaelic-speaking people. It later became a surname and a sturdy breed of cattle. Galloway could be a fresh addition to better-known Scottish places like Murray and Ross.

A spelling spin on presidential surname McKinley.

Shaw is a streamlined and more modern-sounding Shawn, with many notable surname namesakes.

All names ending in ville are in nowheresville.

A softer take on Hunter. Huntley is evenly distributed between girls and boys, coming in at 47% female and 53% male at last count.

Upper crust pet form still used in some old money families.

One of the coolest girls in the class of '73, still cute but not quite as youthful.

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.

Not your typical jovial Irish surname; but has a dark, craggy appeal, and Tag as a nickname.

Murdoch and its more popular modern variant Murdo are traditional given names in Scotland, although they are almost exclusively encountered as surnames outside of their native country. Famous bearers include media mogul Rupert Murdoch and novelist Iris Murdoch. The Murdoc spelling was used for the fictional bassist and founder of the virtual indie band Gorillaz.

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

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

This musical surname, associated with Bing Crosby and David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, & Nash could easily be used for girls, as names like Jagger and Bowie have been.

Faraday is a whimsical Scottish surname that works equally well as a first name for girls or boys.

This would make an interesting name for a boy, if it weren't for the fact that the two most well known Fergies are female.