Scottish names are used in the country of Scotland as well as elsewhere in the Western World as a result of the Scottish diaspora. See also about Scottish names.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
AbercrombieScottish Derived from a surname. It is the name of a parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Frith of Forth, whence the possessor took his surname; from Aber, marshy ground, a place where two or more streams meet; and cruime or crombie, a bend or crook... [more]
AbernathyScottish A different form of Abernethy, which originally meant "person from Abernethy", Perth and Kinross ("confluence of the (river) Nethy"). This was one of the surnames of the Scots who settled in northern Ireland during the ‘plantation’ in the 17th century, and it was brought to the U.S. as the name of a Southern plantation owner.
AffleckGalician, Scottish Variation of Auchinleck, a town near Dundee, Scotland... Ben & Casey Affleck are famous bearers of the name. Auchinleck appears to have been one of those places where the ancient Celts and Druids held conventions, celebrated their festivals, and performed acts of worship... [more]
AgnewScottish Scottish (of Norman origin): habitational name from Agneaux in Manche, France.... [more]
AirdScottish Habitational name from a place named with Gaelic àird(e) 'height', 'promontory', or 'headland', from the adjective àrd 'high', 'lofty', cognate with Latin arduus 'steep', 'difficult'. There is one such place near Hurlford in Ayrshire, and another in Inch, Wigtownshire.
AlardyceScottish Scottish regional surname meaning "southern cliff". From the Gaelic all 'cliff' and deas 'southern'.
AlbanyScottish, English (American) From the title of the Dukes of Albany (House of Stuart), hence a name borne by their retainers. It is an infrequent surname in England and Scotland. The city of Albany, NY (formerly the Dutch settlement of Beverwijck or Fort Orange) was named for James Stuart, Duke of York and Albany; he was the brother of King Charles II and later king in his own right as James II... [more]
AlbeeScottish Means either "son of the blond one" or "son of Alpin".
AlcornScottish Scottish variation of Allcorn, a name that originally came from Alchorn, a manor in the parish of Rotherfield, Sussex.
AlfordEnglish, Scottish Habitation name found in Lincolnshire, Surrey and Somerset, England and Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The name can be derived by combining the Old English female personal name Ealdg- and -ford meaning "water crossing" or can mean "from the alder tree ford".
AllisterScottish The name Allister is derived from the given name Alexander, which in turn was originally derived from the Greek name, which means defender of men. In the late 11th century, Queen Margaret introduced the name, which she had heard in the Hungarian Court where she was raised, into Scotland by naming one of her sons Alexander... [more]
AnnanScottish 'The earliest reference of Annan used as a surname is found in the 13th century Ragman Rolls during which Scots pledged homage to nobles. It is likely that the inhabitants of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Annandale, River Annan, Annanhead Hill, and Annan Castle adopted Annan as their surname.' (wikipedia)
ApplegarthEnglish, Scottish Topographic name from northern Middle English applegarth meaning "apple orchard" (Old Norse apaldr meaning "apple tree" + gar{dh}r meaning "enclosure"), or a habitational name from a place so named, of which there are examples in Cumbria and North and East Yorkshire, as well as in the county of Dumfries.
ArdScottish Habitational name from any of several places called Aird, including one near Hurlford in Ayrshire, another near Stranraer in Galloway, and the Aird, the higher part of the Vale of Beauly, near Inverness... [more]
ArgyleScottish, Scottish Gaelic From the regional name Argyll, a county of southwestern Scotland, named in Gaelic as Earre Ghàidheal ‘coast of the Gaels’. Argyll was the earliest part of Scotland to be settled by Gaelic speakers from Ireland from the 6th century onwards... [more]
ArgyllScottish, Scottish Gaelic From the regional name Argyll, a county of southwestern Scotland, named in Gaelic as Earre Ghàidheal ‘coast of the Gaels’. Argyll was the earliest part of Scotland to be settled by Gaelic speakers from Ireland from the 6th century onwards... [more]
ArmourScottish, Northern Irish From Middle English, Old French armure, blended with the agent noun armer (see Armer), hence an occupational name for a maker of arms and armor. The collective noun armure denoted offensive weapons as well as the more recently specialized sense of protective gear.
ArnottScottish Habitational name from a place called Arnot, near Kinross
BankheadScottish, Northern Irish Topographic name for someone who lived at the top or end of a bank or hill, derived from Middle English bank meaning "bank" and hed meaning "head". There are several minor places in Scotland so called, but the most likely source of the surname is one on the border between the parishes of Kilmarnock and Dreghorn in Ayrshire, Scotland.
BarrScottish, Northern Irish Habitational name from any of various places in southwestern Scotland, in particular Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, named with Gaelic barr "height, hill" or a British cognate of this.
BatchelorEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for an unmarried man, a young knight or a novice, derived from Middle English and Old French bacheler literally meaning "bachelor", ultimately from medieval Latin baccalarius.
BathgateScottish, English From the town of Bathgate, west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The town's name derives from Cumbric *beith, meaning 'boar' (Welsh baedd) and *gaith. meaning 'wood' (Welsh coed).
BeallScottish Derived from the Gaelic word beal, which means "mouth" or "opening." It could have been a nickname for someone with a large or prominent mouth.
BeatyScottish, Northern Irish Variant form of Beattie. A famous bearer of this name was the American basketball player Zelmo Beaty (1939-2013).
BirnieScottish Part of the clan MacInnes from the Scottish highlands. It was originally the name of a church (Burn-nigh) which became Birnie or Birney.
BlantonScottish (Americanized, Modern) An americanized version of the old Scottish name Ballantine (other forms being Ballantyne, Bannatyne, Ballanden).
BogleScottish, Northern Irish From a medieval Scottish and Northern Irish nickname for someone of scary appearance (from Middle Scots bogill "hobgoblin").
BoldyScottish This is a name for someone who lived in Peeblesshire.
BonarScottish, Northern Irish From a medieval nickname for a courteous or good-looking person (from Middle English boner "gentle, courteous, handsome"). A notable bearer of the surname was Canadian-born British Conservative politician Andrew Bonar Law (1858-1923), prime minister 1922-23.
BonnellScottish From Bonhill, a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
BrattenScottish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Mac an Bhreatnaich ‘son of the Briton’, originally denoting a Strathclyde Welsh-speaking Briton. It was applied in Ireland also to people from Brittany.
BremnerScottish Derived from the Scottish Gaelic name MacGillebhàin which means "son of the fair-haired one." It is associated with the Clan Bremner, which has roots in the northern parts of Scotland.
BrisbaneScottish Nickname derived from Old French bris(er) meaning "to break" and Old English ban meaning "bone". The sense of this hybrid name is not clear; it may have been used for someone crippled by a broken bone or for a violent man who broke other people’s bones.
BrushScottish (Rare) Quite literally means "brush". Might derive from the Scottish Gaelic word bhrus which means "brush", or the Latin root br which means "explained". Was a nickname for those described to 'look like a brush'(i.e. hair that sticks up, thin with a big head, etc.)
BurrEnglish, Scottish, German Nickname for a person who is difficult to shake off, derived from Middle English burr meaning "bur" (a seedhead that sticks to clothing). It could also be a derivation from Old English bur meaning "small dwelling, building", or a German topographic name derived from burre meaning "mound, hill"... [more]
ByerScottish The history of the Byer family begins in the Boernician tribes of ancient Scotland. The Byer family lived in or near the place named Byers in Scotland. The place-name, Byers, derives from the Old English word byre, which means cattle shed... [more]
ByersScottish, English Scottish and northern English topographic name for someone who lived by a cattleshed, Middle English byre, or a habitational name with the same meaning, from any of several places named with Old English b¯re, for example Byers Green in County Durham or Byres near Edinburgh.
ByresScottish Byres was first used as a surname by the descendants of the ancient Boernician clans of Scotland. The first Byres family lived in or near the place named Byers in Scotland. The place-name, Byers, derives from the Old English word byre, which means cattle shed... [more]
CaanScottish, German, Jewish Altered spelling of Jewish Cohen, or probably denoted a person from the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Famous bearers of this surname include American actor James Caan (1940-2022), as well as his son Scott Caan (1976-), also a noted actor.
CairdScottish Derived from Scottish Gaelic ceard meaning "craftsman, artist mechanic, travelling tinker".
CairnsScottish From Gaelic carn "cairn", a topographic name for someone who lived by a cairn, i.e. a pile of stones raised as a boundary marker or a memorial.
CaithnessScottish Anglicized form of Scottish-Gaelic Gallaibh, which means "among the strangers" (referring to the Norse). The name of the Catti survives in the Gaelic name for eastern Sutherland, Cataibh, and in the old Gaelic name for Shetland, Innse Chat... [more]
CalderScottish Habitational name from any of the places called Calder in Midlothian and Caithness, or Cawdor in Nairnshire.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
CarnegieScottish Habitational name from a place called Carnegie, near Carmyllie in Angus, from Gaelic cathair an eige "fort at the gap".
CarrickScottish The possible roots of the Carrick family name may be from the ancient Strathclyde people of the the Scottish/English Borderlands. Carrick may also be of local origin, referring to those who lived in or near the place called Carrick in Ayrshire... [more]
CarringtonEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Carrington, probably named with an unattested Old English personal name Cara + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’.... [more]
CarruthersScottish This old Scottish surname was first used by Strathclyde-Briton people. The Carruthers family in the land of Carruthers in the parish of Middlebie, Dumfriesshire. In that are it is pronounced 'Cridders'.... [more]
CaruthersScottish Means "Rhydderch's fort" in Cumbric. This might refer to the king of Alt Clut, Rhydderch Hael.
CasseyScottish, Irish This surname originated around ancient Scotland and Ireland. In its Gaelic form it is called, 'O Cathasaigh', which means 'the watchful one'.... [more]
ChalmersScottish Variant of Chambers. The -l- was originally an orthographic device to indicate the length of the vowel after assimilation of -mb- to -m(m)-.
ChisholmScottish The name of a location in Roxburghshire, Scotland, which itself comes from cisil "gravel" and holm "islet".
ChristieScottish Means "son of Christian" or "son of Christopher".
CinnamondScottish, Irish, English Possibly originates from Scottish place name Kininmonth. Probably introduced to Northern Ireland by Scottish settlers where it remains in Ulster. Another origin is the French place name Saint Amand originated from French Huguenots settling in Ireland.
ClaineScottish, Irish Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic name meaning "son of the servant of Saint John."
ClerihewScottish A Scottish surname of unknown origin and meaning. A clerihew is a humorous or satirical verse consisting of two rhyming couplets in lines of irregular metre about someone who is named in the poem. It was invented by the British author Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956; Clerihew was his mother's maiden name)... [more]
ClossonScottish this name is of the noble family in Orkney islands known as the closson whom came to Orkney with the viking raiders in the early 900's and they founded the noble house of closson there of
ClydeScottish A river in the south-west of Scotland, running through Inverclyde, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and the city of Glasgow. The second longest in Scotland; and the eighth longest in the United Kingdom... [more]
CobainScottish This unusual surname is of Old Norse origin and is found particularly in Scotland. It derives from an Old Norse personal name Kobbi, itself from an element meaning large, and the Gaelic bain, denoting a fair person, with the diminutive ('little' or 'son of') form Cobbie.
ColdenEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English cald ‘cold’ col ‘charcoal’ + denu ‘valley’.... [more]
ConwayWelsh, Scottish, Irish As a Welsh surname, it comes from the name of a fortified town on the coast of North Wales (Conwy formerly Conway), taken from the name of the river on which it stands. The river name Conwy may mean "holy water" in Welsh.... [more]
CorbettEnglish, Scottish, Welsh Nickname from Norman French corbet meaning 'little crow, raven'. This surname is thought to have originated in Shropshire. The surname was taken by bearers to Scotland in the 12th Century, and to Northern Ireland in the 17th Century.... [more]
CorrinManx, Scottish First documented in 1290, sources suggest prototypes to be of Norse and/or Irish origins or a Manx contraction of Mac Oran from Mac Odhrain.
CostainEnglish, Scottish, Manx When originating in Scotland Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man the surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Austain, meaning "son of Austin"... [more]
CoullsonScottish Gaelic (Anglicized, Rare), English All origins of the name are patronymic. Meanings include an Anglicized version of the Gaelic MacCumhaill, meaning "son of Cumhall", which means "champion" and "stranger" and an Anglicized patronymic of the Gaelic MacDhubhghaill, meaning "son of Dubhgall." The personal name comes from the Gaelic words dubh, meaning "black" and gall, meaning "stranger."... [more]
CouslandScottish Of local origin from Cousland in the parish of Cranston, Midlothian.
CowieScottish habitational name from any of several places, especially one near Stirling, named Cowie, probably from Gaelic colldha, an adjective from coll ‘hazel’
CrabbEnglish, Scottish, German, Dutch, Danish English and Scottish, from Middle English crabbe, Old English crabba ‘crab’ (the crustacean), a nickname for someone with a peculiar gait. English and Scottish from Middle English crabbe ‘crabapple (tree)’ (probably of Old Norse origin), hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a crabapple tree... [more]
CraigheadScottish Habitational name for someone who lived in places of this name in Scotland.
CraigmileScottish Derived from Craigmyle, a place in the village of Kincardine O'Neil, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It could also be an occupational name for a baker who made cracknel biscuits.
CranstonScottish Combination of the Old English byname Cran "crane" and Old English tun "settlement".
CrawEnglish, Scottish, Northern Irish One who had characteristics of a crow; sometimes used as an element of a place name e.g. Crawford, and Crawfordjohn in Lanarkshire, Crawshawbooth in Lancashire, and Crawley in Sussex
CrockettEnglish, Scottish Nickname for someone who affected a particular hairstyle, from Middle English croket ''large curl'' (Old Norman French croquet, a diminutive of croque "curl", "hook").
CrookScottish, English Possible origin a medieval topographical surname, denoting residence from the Middle English word "crok" from the Old NOrse "Krokr". Possibly a maker or seller of hooks. Another possibility is meaning crooked or bent originally used of someone with a hunch back.
CroyScottish Means "person from Croy", the name of various places in Scotland.
CruikshankScottish From a medieval Scottish nickname for someone with a crooked leg (from Scots cruik "bent" + shank "leg"). This was the surname of British caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1872) and British actor Andrew Cruikshank (1907-1988).
CulbertAnglo-Saxon, Irish, English, Scottish Meaning and origin are uncertain. Edward MacLysaght (The Surnames of Ireland, 1999, 6th Ed., Irish Academic Press, Dublin, Ireland and Portland, Oregon, USA) states that this surname is of Huguenot (French Protestant) origin, and found mainly in Ireland's northern province of Ulster... [more]
CurrieScottish, Irish, English Irish: Habitational name from Currie in Midlothian, first recorded in this form in 1230. It is derived from Gaelic curraigh, dative case of currach ‘wet plain’, ‘marsh’. It is also a habitational name from Corrie in Dumfriesshire (see Corrie).... [more]
DalgleishScottish Means "person from Dalgleish", near Selkirk ("green field").
DalglieshScottish Scottish habitational name from a place near Selkirk, first recorded in 1383 in the form Dalglas, from Celtic dol- ‘field’ + glas ‘green.’
DalglishScottish Derived from Gaelic dail meaning "field" and glaise meaning "brook".
DalhousieScottish Meant "person from Dalhousie", near Edinburgh (perhaps "field of slander").
DalrympleScottish Habitational name from Dalrymple, a village and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland, said to be named from Gaelic dail chruim puill meaning "field of the crooked stream" or "dale of the crooked pool".
DalzielScottish Means "person from Dalyell", in the Clyde valley (probably "white field"). The name is standardly pronounced "dee-el". A fictional bearer is Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel, one half of the detective team of 'Dalziel and Pascoe' in the novels (1970-2009) of Reginald Hill.
DamonEnglish, Scottish From the personal name Damon, from a classical Greek name, a derivative of damān "to kill". Compare Damian.
DarlingLiterature, English, Scottish English and Scottish: from Middle English derling, Old English deorling ‘darling’, ‘beloved one’, a derivative of deor ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ (see Dear)... [more]
DeeEnglish, Scottish From the name of any of various rivers in England and Scotland named Dee, itself derived from Celtic dewos meaning "god, deity".
DeldojarScottish (Anglicized, Rare) Deldojar is a nickname for Bangladeshi traders who settled on the coastal port of Perth and Kinross, Scotland. This name is taken from the name of the merchant's hometown, Deldur upazila, a district of Tangail in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
DempsterManx, English, Scottish The name for a judge or arbiter of minor disputes, from Old English dem(e)stre, a derivative of the verb demian ‘to judge or pronounce judgement’. Although this was originally a feminine form of the masculine demere, by the Middle English period the suffix -stre had lost its feminine force, and the term was used of both sexes... [more]
DoakScots A Scots Gaelic name said to be either an Anglicized version of Dabhóc that is a pet form of the given name David or a pet form of the given name Caradoc.
DodieScottish (Modern) Dodie is a Scottish shortening of the name "Dorothy" it is quite rare and one of the only famous people with this name is the singer/songwrite Dodie Clark.
DominieScottish Occupational name for a church schoolmaster, from Latin domine, a vocative form of dominus, "lord" "master".
DonScottish Don derives from the Old Gaelic "donn", brown, or the Old English pre 7th Century "dunn", brown, or the Old English pre 7th Century "dunn", dull brown or dark, and was originally given as a distinguishing nickname to someone with dark hair or a swarthy complexion.
DowellEnglish, Scottish, Irish Derived from the Gaelic name Dubhgall, composed of the elements dubh meaning "black" and gall, "stranger". This was used as a byname for Scandinavians, in particular to distinguish the dark-haired Danes from fair-haired Norwegians.
DuguidScottish Probably "do good", from a Scottish nickname for a well-intentioned person or (ironically) a do-gooder.
DumfriesScottish, Dutch, Dutch (Surinamese) From the name of a market town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, derived from Gaelic dùn meaning "fort" and preas meaning "thicket". This surname is found predominantly in Aruba, the Netherlands and Suriname... [more]
DundasScottish, Northern Irish Scottish and northern Irish (Counties Leitrim and Fermanagh): habitational name from Dundas, a place near Edinburgh, Scotland, which is named from Gaelic dùn ‘hill’ + deas ‘south’.
DundassScottish Variation of Dundas possibly miss spelled at imagination into Quebec (Lower Canada) late 18th Century
DundeeScottish From the name of the city of Dundee in Scotland, derived from Gaelic dùn meaning "fort" and dè meaning "fire".
DunmoreEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from Dunmore Farm in Oxfordshire or from any of many places in Scotland named in Gaelic as Dún Môr 'great hill'.
DunneIrish, English, Scottish This surname means dark and was likely given to those with a dark complexion or with dark hair.
DunwoodyScottish, Scottish Gaelic It is said that the origin is pre 7th century Gaelic from ''dun'' or ''din'' meaning a wood or forest and ''gwydd'' which means much the same. Arguably the name means wood - wood, a result of language and dialect changing several times in the past 1500 years.
DurwardEnglish, Scottish (?) Means "guardian of the door, door-keeper" (cf. Durward). A fictional bearer of the surname is Quentin Durward, eponymous hero of the novel (1823) by Sir Walter Scott.
EdminsteireScottish john edminsteire was a person captured at the battle of dunbar in 1651 and shipped to boston in 1652 on the ship john and sarah. we can find no previous record of the edminsteire name. conjecture from f.custer edminster that did the geneology is it is a combination of french and german names and originated from people that migrated to scotland with mary queen of scots about 100 years earlier.
EllicotScottish The Ellicot family name was first used by descendants of the Pictish people of ancient Scotland. It is a name for someone who lived in Liddesdale and Teviotdale where the family has a long and distinguished history dating back to the early Middle Ages... [more]