Scottish Names

A common family name in Scotland, occasionally used as a first.

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.

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

This somewhat boisterous Celtic name would be at home in a noisy pub or out walking on the moors. In Scotland, it was originally a nickname for someone with dark hair or a swarthy complexion.

Originally a nickname for Viking invaders, it gained fresh impetus in the 18th century when James Macpherson made Fingal the central character in his Ossianic poems. An offbeat addition to the Fin- family of names.

Parents of Irish heritage are increasingly looking for more authentic Gaelic names, and this is a native spin on Patrick. Pronunciation will be confusing for many Americans, though: It's POR-rick. Golf champ Padraig Harrington has brought it into the sports spotlight.

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

Dugald is a Harry Potter name. In fact, there are not one but two characters name Dugald in the Harry Potter books.

Aileas is one of those Scottish names that is at once familiar and unusual, a spin on the internationally-popular Alice that is all but unknown outside of its native Scotland. It might overcomplicate things in the US, though, given that most Americans would pronounce it like the word alias and would find it difficult to get from those vowel combinations to ah-lus or eh-lus.

A surprisingly rare form of Arthur that rings more Scottish, and lends itself easily to Art as a nickname.

Most Americans would take the easy way out and spell it Willem, as in artist de Kooning and actor Dafoe.

This spin on the "Alex" prefix was the 88th most popular girl name in Scotland in 1900.

This Irish saint's name makes an attractive alternative for Dylan or Donald.

More grown up than Jamie, but never given to more than 13 baby girls in the US per year (and that back in 1968). Modern parents prefer Jamie, Jameson or even James itself, as Blake and Ryan Reynolds chose in 2014.