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Scottish Naming Patterns
There are several patterns for the naming of children which have been observed by family
historians as having been practiced in Scotland; most particularly from the early 19th
century onwards. The patterns have also been observed in northern Ireland, the
English Borders and elsewhere in Britain, right down to Kent in the SE corner.
In Scotland, this was described by Gerald-Hamilton-Edwards in his book "In Search of
Scottish Ancestry" in the chapter entitled Naming Customs. The author felt that
naming customs used by Scottish families was of such significance to genealogists to
devote a chapter to the subject. Mr. Edwards gave the following as the general custom,
with some variations:
Pattern 1 - First Christian or Fore-names
1st son after paternal grandfather
2nd son after maternal grandfather
3rd son after Father
4th son after the father's eldest brother.
and similarly for daughters - first forenames
1st daughter after maternal grandmother
2nd daughter after paternal grandmother
3rd daughter after mother
4th daughter after the mother's eldest sister.
Pattern 2 - Ancestors Surnames as Middle Names
Another naming custom in Scotland, which appeared in the early to middle 19th century, is
to use family surnames as a middle name, thus preserving surnames for another generation.
This can include all family connections from blood lines to married in lines. There
appears to be a pattern here too. Although the following naming practice was not an
invariant tradition, it may give a clue about the name of grandparents whose names are so
elusive in genealogical research.
The first son was named after the father's father.
The second son was named after the mother's father.
The third son was named after the father.
The fourth son was named after the father's eldest brother.
The first daughter was named after the mother's mother.
The second daughter was named after the father's mother.
The third daughter was named after the mother.
The fourth daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister.
Biblical Names
It was also common practice among Quaker families and in severe Church of
Scotland sects to give their children Biblical Christian names. This practice became
briefly fashionable in Victorian Britain.
Yours aye, Iain
in Windsor, Berkshire
WWW site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/iain_kerr
And these notes came from David W. Webster, on Compuserve
SCOTTISH NAMING PATTERNS
Most often used pattern for given names was
1st son after paternal grandfather
2nd son after maternal grandfatther
3rd son after father
1st daughter after maternal grandmother
2nd daughter after paternal grandmother
3rd daughter after mother
Thereafter, common to use uncles' and aunts' names, but I have only ever come across a
very few instances of strict adherence to
4th son after fathers' eldest brother
4th daughter after mothers' eldest sister
Similarly you may come come across rules for naming 5th and subsequent sons and daughters
but I have never come across a case where I can show such rules to be strictly followed.
In about 10% of cases where the naming convention was used you will find a switch in the
maternal/paternal pattern, i.e.
Ist son after maternal grandfather
2nd son after paternal grandmother
3rd son after father
1st daughter after paternal grandmother
2nd daughter after maternal grandmother
3rd daughter after mother
In situations where the father and grandfather had the same name, the pattern may be
altered to avoid duplication, but it is also not atall uncommon to find two sons with the
same given name, i.e. altho' the repeat of a name will often mean that the eldest died in
infancy, this cannot be assumed without checking the naming pattern possibilities.
There are also rare occurences of 3 sons with the same name as the father and both
grandfathers had the same name.
As to the period during which the naming pattern tradition was used you will find it
relatively uncommon to come across strict usage from the early 1900's onwards, especially
once the size of families started to decrease. Before that it was used widely, but
you will find at the one extreme families who stick strictly to the conventions for a
number of generations right thru to families where there is no apparent usage of the
convention. The most frustrating for a genealogist can be families that only partly
used the convention and/or sometimes did and sometimes didn't.
Another commonly used naming convention in Scotland is the use, widespread only from the
early 1800's onwards, of using the mother's maiden name, or one of the grandmother's
maiden names as a middle name,- this practice can even extend back to a maternal
grandparent of the parents, i.e. ggrandmother of the child, especially if the person
in question died a short time before the birth in question. As far as I am aware
there was no set pattern or sequence in the use of such maiden names.
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