Forenames

Scottish Gaelic has a number of personal names, such as Ailean, Aonghas, Dòmhnall, Donnchadh, Coinneach, and Murchadh, for which there are traditional forms in English (Alan, Angus, Donald, Duncan, Kenneth, Murdo). There are also distinctly Scottish Gaelic forms of names that belong to the common European stock of given names, such as: Iain (John), Alasdair (Alexander), Uilleam (William), Catrìona (Catherine), Raibert (Robert), Cairistìona (Christina), Anna (Ann), Màiri (Mary), Seumas (James), Pàdraig (Patrick) and Tómas (Thomas). Some names have come into Gaelic from Old Norse, for example: Somhairle ( < Somarliðr), Tormod (< Þórmóðr), Torcuil (< Þórkell, Þórketill), Ìomhar (Ívarr). These are conventionally rendered in English as Sorley (or, historically, Somerled), Norman, Torquil, and Iver (or Evander).

There are other, traditional, Gaelic names which have no direct equivalents in English: Oighrig, which is normally rendered as Effrick, the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 loan Euphemia (Effie), Henrietta (Etta) (formerly also as Henny or even as Harriet), or, Diorbhail, which is "matched" with Dorothy, simply on the basis of a certain similarity in spelling; Gormul, for which there is nothing similar in English, and it is rendered as 'Gormelia' or even 'Dorothy'; Beathag, which is "matched" with Becky (> Rebecca) and even Betsy, or Sophie.

Many of these are now regarded as old-fashioned and are no longer used. As there is only a relatively small pool of traditional Gaelic names from which to choose, some families within the Gaelic-speaking communities have in recent years made a conscious decision when naming their children to seek out names that are used within the wider English-speaking world. These names do not, of course, have an equivalent in Gaelic.

Now, some native Gaelic-speakers are willing to break with tradition. Opinion on this practice is divided; some would argue that they are thereby weakening their link with their linguistic and cultural heritage, but others take the opposing view that Gaelic, as with any other language, must retain a degree of flexibility and adaptability if it is to survive in the modern world at all.

The well-known name Hamish and the recently established Mhairi come from the Gaelic for James, and Mary respectively, but derive from the form of the names as they appear in the vocative case: Seumas (James) (nom.) → Sheumais (voc.), and, Màiri (Mary) (nom.) → Mhàiri (voc.).

Surnames

Traditional Scottish Gaelic surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

s, in the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 sense, are not generally in use in colloquial Gaelic except when speaking of strangers.

It was once traditional for everyone living in a Gaelic speaking district to have a local nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 describing his trade

Trade

Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...

 or a physical characteristic, e.g. "Donnchadh reamhar an saor" (Fat Duncan, the Joiner

Joiner

A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...

) etc. Sometimes they are named after the place they lived in last, or were born in, e.g. "An t-Americanach" (The American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) etc. If the person named is of a family

Family

In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

 long settled in the district he will probably be named after his father

Father

A father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...

, as "Seumas a' Phìobair" (the piper

Bagpipes

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...

’s James). Where a person’s mother is a native married to an outsider, he may be named after her, e.g. "Dòmhnall Chiorstan" (Kirsten’s Donald). Thus a Gaelic student whose friend is plain John MacDonald in the city must not be surprised when he meets him at home to hear his companion spoken of as "Iain Mhurchaidh Dhòmhnaill Alasdair"! This means "John [son of] Murdo [son of] Donald [son of] Alistair", a patronymic

Patronymic

A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...

. The sole object of Gaelic surnames is to make the identity of the person spoken of as clear as possible through the speaker reminding his hearers by means of the name every time it is mentioned, to whom or where he "belongs".

Considerable care must be exercised when translating English surnames into Gaelic, for example Donald Black is "Domhnall Mac a’ Ghille Dhuibh". The literal translation, "Dòmhnall Dubh" (Black Donald) may, if used, prove misleading, for that is more likely to be the local appellation of Donald Cameron (Dòmhnall Camshron) or Donald Smith (Dòmhnall Mac a’ Ghobhainn), both of whom have dark hair, than of Donald Black, who may even be fair, and locally known as "Dòmhnall Bàn", but more probably as "Dòmhnall Alasdair" or "Dòmhnall Iain" etc. "Dòmhnall Dubh" is also a familiar Gaelic nickname for the Devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

. (This may be partially because the Gaelic words for devil and demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

 – "Diabhal" and "Deamhan" bear some resemblance to the name "Dòmhnall" (Donald).)

The most common class of Gaelic surnames are those beginning with Mac (Gaelic for son), such as MacGillEathain (MacLean). The female form is Nic (Gaelic for daughter), so Catherine MacPhee is properly called in Gaelic, Caitrìona Nic a' Phì. [Strictly, "Nic" is a contraction of the Gaelic phrase nighean mhic, meaning "daughter of the son", thus NicDhòmhnaill, really means "daughter of MacDonald" rather than "daughter of Donald".] Both Mac and Nic cause various changes in the following word(s) to mark the genitive case

Genitive case

In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...

 e.g., in the case of MacNéill, Néill (of Neil) is the genitive form of Niall (Neil).

Several colours give rise to common Scottish surnames: bàn (Bain - white), ruadh (Roy - red), dubh (Dow - black), donn (Dunn - brown), buidhe (Bowie - yellow).

See also

• Irish name
  Irish name
  A formal Irish-language name consists of a given name and a surname. Surnames in Irish are generally patronymic in etymology, although they are no longer literal patronyms, as Icelandic names are...
  
  
• Russian patronymics
• Icelandic name
  Icelandic name
  Icelandic names differ from most current Western family name systems by being patronymic in that they reflect the immediate father of the child and not the historic family lineage....
  
  s, which still use patronymics

External links

• What's in a Name A survey of forenames and their origins and relationships to other names. Specialises in Scottish, Gaelic and European names.