Scottish Naming Patterns

Up until at least the latter part of the 1800’s many families of Scottish descent were still using the traditional custom of naming children in a specific way. When I first learned of this, I was able to use it to trace back one more generation in one of my lines simply by projecting backwards to the grandparents generation and then searching for the grandparents based on the naming practice. Here is the research tip!

Among the Scottish, the general custom, with some minor variations, was to name the children as follows:

  • the eldest son after the paternal grandfather
  • the second son after the maternal grandfather
  • the third son after the father
  • the eldest daughter after the maternal grandmother
  • the second daughter after the paternal grandmother
  • the third daughter after the mother

The younger children were often named after earlier forebears, but there was not a specific pattern after the third son or daughter.

If you have Scottish ancestors, check out the pattern and see if it was followed in your ancestral families.

Good luck.