Scottish names

Scottish names are mainly derived from Scots Gaelic a Celtic language which is similar to Irish. There are some distinctive names which have passed into general UK culture and become popular everywhere in the UK. Alison is a variant of Alice which was used in the Middle Ages. It is the name of a character in the Canterbury Tales and was very popular in Scotland. Another girl's name is Kirsty which is a Scottish abbreviation of Christine and which has now become an independent name. The name means “Christian”. Jean comes from the medieval French name Jehane (for Jane) but has been much used in Scotland. However Janet is the Scottish version of Jane. Jessie was often used as a nickname for Janet but can also be an abbreviation of Jessica. Fiona is a very popular name which was invented by the Scottish writer William Sharp. He wrote as Fiona Macleod, and the name was meant to be a feminine version of Finn or Fionn which means “fair”. There are also several male names, including Innes which means island. Another one is Keith which means forest and has become very popular all over the UK. Kelvin is the name of a Scottish river and was taken as a title by William Thompson, who was a pioneering scientist and engineer. Thomson was born in Ireland but worked in Scotland and when he became the first scientist to be ennobled, he took the title Kelvin after a river he knew. It became popular and lost its Scottish associations. Kenneth means handsome. It was a royal Scottish name and is well-known all over the English speaking world.. It's also famous as the name of Kenneth Grahame, author of the Wind in the Willows. Kyle which means a narrow channel, has become more popular in the US. Hamish is a Scottish version of James which means “Supplanter”.Douglas is a very popular Scottish name. In the Middle ages, it was also used for girls, one female Douglas was Douglas Sheffield, a lady of Queen Elizabeth’s court, who was the mistress of Robert Dudley. The name means “dark water” and was originally a surname, the name of one of the Scottish noble families.