Scottish Names

Farquhar has a great meaning, but unfortunate potential for mispronunciation. It was originally a given name in the Scottish highlands, but is more commonly known today as a surname. It's occasionally given to children in Scotland, but rarely if ever elsewhere. (And no, the character in Shrek was Lord Farquaad.)

Often used in England, but here likely to be confused with the feminine Nicole. Nicol Williamson was a Scottish-born actor once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando".

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art

There's a Perth in Scotland and a bigger one in Australia; this name could make a statement similar to Heath.

Musical choice that might work great in the middle. Alternative in all its forms, Fife and sister name Fifer are Scottish names for girls that can make a new twist on Piper.

An old French surname derived from baille, meaning "fortification" – the same root as the English word bailey. The surname was borne by an aristocratic English family descended from French nobility.

This anagram of Agnes is not related to that name; rather it comes from the Gaelic word seang meaning "slender".

Wylei exists because Corey Parker decreed it so: He gave his newborn son this variation of the classic surname more conventionally spelled Wylie or Wiley. The problem with the Wylei spelling is that it makes you think the name may have a different pronunciation, with an ay versus an ee sound at the end. This is one of those creative inspirations that will make the child's life more difficult for years to come.

Best known to most as a brand of Whisky, Ballantine is a Scottish surname relating to the Celtic god Bal. It has potential as a off-the-beaten-track boys name that is still familiar. Ballantine is the brand name of a whiskey, a beer, and a publishing imprint.

Among the more masculine of the short unisex B names, Brice is less popular than Bryce for both sexes. There were 240 boys named Brice in the US in one recent year, versus only five girls -- and more than ten times that many of both genders named Bryce.

An old name still occasionally heard in the U.K., but still and perhaps forever a foreigner in the U.S. Can be spelled Ranulf.

At one time associated with the fictional detective Bulldog Drummond, this formal surname name does boast the cute nickname Drum.