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Archiver > SCT-RENFREW > 2000-01 > 0948909879


From: "Mark Sutherland-Fisher" <>
Subject: Re: Scottish names
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 18:04:39 -0000


Hi Sandie,
Yes the Highland Scots have a naming pattern which began to be followed when
many highlanders moved to Central Scotland in the 18th and 19 the centuries.
It was:

Boys Girls
1 father's father 1 mother's mother
2 mother's father 2 father's mother
3 father 3 mother
4 uncles/great-uncles 4 aunts/great-aunts

Thereafter it would depend on the circumstances. A younger son might be
named after the minister, doctor or the father's former commander in the
army, a daughter after the laird's wife. It was also common to name a child
after an unmarried aunt or uncle with some land or money in the expectation
that that child would be favoured when it came to inheritance, so not much
has changed. Also remember if a child died, which was common, the next child
born of the same sex would be given the same name. My great grandmother had
three brothers named Alexander Drummond, but only the youngest reached
double figures in age. Re-naming often knocked the naming pattern out, as
did say both grandfathers or one grandfather and the father having the same
name. Some families were even daft enough to name two or more the same where
there was a duplication of say grandfather's names etc. Such chaos often led
to the use of by-names such as "big" or "little" or "post" or "milk" etc,
e.g. Big Tom, Little Tom, Tommy the Milk (a milkman), Tommy the Post ( a
postman), Tommy the Sly (probably had a squint in his face) etc etc.
Hope this helps but remember it was essentially a Highland naming pattern.
Regards,
Mark,
Genealogist: Clan Sutherland
Co-Genealogist: Clan Mackenzie
Professional Genealogist specialising in the Highlands and 18th century
see my web-site: http://www.highland-family-heritage.co.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandie Miller <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 7:46 PM
Subject: Scottish names


> Hi everyone,
>
> Do the Scottish follow any pattern for naming their children? By this
I
> mean is the first born daughter named after the grandmother, the second
> daughter after the mother. This would hold true for the men in the family
as
> well.......Is there any truth to this theory? Seems I've seen something
> regarding this somewhere......
>
> Thank you in advance for any comments,
> Sandie
>
>
>
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