Understanding Scottish Surnames

Spelling was not consistent until dictionaries made it standard in the 1800s. Until this time, spelling was quite fluid and tended to be according to the enumerator or registrar. Often this was done in a manner similar to phonetic spelling. I could not find the marriage for my Henry Fowler anywhere. I was beginning to think that perhaps the couple had had an irregular marriage. Then I decided to use a wildcard search for Henry and lo and behold I found him - listed as Henry FULLER. As soon as I saw the certificate, I realized why I hadn't found him sooner. Henry would have been asked his surname. In his thick Border brogue, Henry would have responded "Fooler" And that became written as FULLER.

It is not uncommon to find that your ancestor's surname changed from Clerke, to Clarke and then to Clark. All three sound the same in Scotland (clark) and yet the spelling has evolved over time. Knowing this will help to ensure you don't rule out people who might be your ancestor, but who you have ignored based on the (mis)spelling of the surname.

As a standard, surnames in Scotland weren't adopted by the common man until about the 1600s. Prior to that, people were known by patrynomics (Donald, son of John or Donald John's son), by physical trait (John the Red - Red John - for someone who might have been a redhead, by location (Thomas by the burn or Thomas Burn) or by occupation (David the miller or David Miller). Once surnames became common practice, many of these former descriptors were adopted as surnames. Others, particularly the Highlanders or border clans, took on the surname of the clan chief, family head or even the landowner for the estate they lived or worked on. For this reason, not everyone named Wallace, for example, is related to William Wallace. Nor is every Mc/MacDonald related to the clan chief.

People often have questions about the Mc vs Mac surnames. Some understand that one is Irish and the other is Scottish, while others understand that one is Catholic while the other is Protestant. In reality, they are interchangeable. Both Mc and Mac are the anglicized spelling of the Gaelic M' or M'hic. M'hic or M' for short, means "son of" in Gaelic. This has been transcribed over the centuries as Mc or Mac, depending on the transcriber and their understanding of how the prefix is spelled. So whether your ancestors were Mc or Mac, don't discount the other spelling in the event you might also be discounting your ancestor and his/her documents!

Family History Month - Day 2

When doing Scottish genealogy research, you will quickly notice that the Christian names given to the children frequently repeat generation after generation. This can make it hard to keep track but it can also work to help you eliminate families that aren't yours. Here's the pattern that was followed by most Scottish families: 
First Born Son named for the paternal grandfather
Second Born Son named for the maternal grandfather
Third Son named for the father - unless he shares a name with one of the
grandfathers. If the father shared one of the first two names, then the paternal great-grandfather's name may have been given to the new child
Fourth and subsequent sons were often named after father or mother's brothers.

First Born Daughter named for the maternal grandmother
Second Born Daughternamed for the paternal grandmother
Third Daughter named for the mother - unless she shares a name with one of the grandmothers. If mother shared one of the first two names, then the maternal great-grandmother's name may have been given to the new baby.
Subsequent daughterswere generally named for mother or father's sisters

In addition, if one of the first three children died, the next baby born of the same sex was given that name so that the name would live on for future generations. This is important because you may often find two children with name and the same parents but the children were be born in different years. If this is the case, then you might want to look for a death of the first child between the time of his recorded birth and the birth of the second child of the same name.

Some alterations to the pattern occurred when a new minister came to the parish. Often the first child born had his name incorporated into their name, either as a first name or a middle name. Similarly, when a newly minted district nurse attended her first birth, that baby would have her name incorporated into theirs.  This is where middle names become important in keeping the right Walter lined up with the right parents and siblings. Often, the middle names are surnames: Mother's maiden name, a maiden name of one of the grannies or great grannies. These become the anchor names that assist you in keeping the families correctly aligned.  

Tomorrow we look at Scottish marriages

More on the Scottish Naming Pattern - Diminutves

In a previous post, I explained the Scottish Naming Pattern. Now lets add diminutives into the mix. For instance:

Ellen, Helen, and Eleanor are often used interchangeably. For the most part, Ellen is the diminutive of Eleanor. Ellen is the common pronunciation of Helen. Nellie can also be the diminutive for Helen or Eleanor.

Jean and Jane are often used interchangeably. This gets complicated when you have a daughter of each name. Janet is often also referred to as Jane but can also be Jennie or Jessie.

Mary and Marion both often get referred to as May, Mamie or Maisie while Margaret usually goes by Peg or Peggy, but can also be referred to as Maggie or Meg.

Catherine, Kathleen and Kate are generally one and the same.

Isabel and Isabella are one and the same but may be also be known as Bella, Belle, Sibby or Tibbie.

Elizabeth rarely is Elizabeth, usually being Betty or Bess, but perhaps also Beth, Lizzie, Elsie or Libby.

For men, the diminutives are also readily used. John may be Ian, Iain, or Jock.

George may be Jordy, Geordy or Dod.

James may be Jamie, Jimmy or Hamish.

As the saying goes, "Keep calm and carry on!"

Scottish Naming Pattern

I have 37 Henry Fowlers in my tree. And I know there are others I haven't connected to my branches yet. That's part of the Scottish Naming Pattern. This can be a joy or a peeve. It can help you link ancestors to your surname. But it is also a struggle when you find a record and need to figure out who is who.
My grandfather and his brothers "went to America". One brother was already living in Windsor Ontario when my granddad arrived. They had a cousin, Henry Fowler, who was working in Detroit for Mr Ford. I found Henry on the 1930 census but needed to find out where he fit in relation to my grandfather. Remember I have no less than 37 Henry Fowlers in my tree. However, narrowing it down to Henry Fowlers of the same age as my grandfather and his brothers left me with about 15 to choose from. I eventually narrowed it down to the son of my great grandmother's brother, Henry Fowler (of course!). It took a great deal of digging to make sure I had the right Henry. The Fowlers were strong adherents to the Scottish Naming Pattern. Had there been a John Fowler, I would have known he likely wasn't mine as we have no John Fowlers in the  family (so far). Because of his first name, I knew that Henry was likely my ancestor, I just needed to work to prove that he belonged to me.
Here's how the Scottish  Naming Pattern works:

First Born Son - named for the paternal grandfather
Second Born Son - named for the maternal grandfather
Third Son named for the father - unless he shares a name with one of the grandfathers
Fourth and subsequent sons were often named after father or mother's brothers

First Born Daughter - named for the maternal grandmother
Second Born Daughter - named for the paternal grandmother
Third Daughter - named for the mother - unless she shares a name with one of the grandmothers
Subsequent daughters were generally named for mother or father's sisters

In addition, if one of the first three children died, the next baby born of the same sex was given that name so that the name would live on for future generations. This became a bit of a conundrum for me when I was assisting a family looking for their roots in North Uist. This family had Donald MacDonald, then son Donald MacDonald who died at age 3, so the next born son was Donald MacDonald (so far, so good). This Donald did not die, but a subsequent son was also named Donald. This time, Donald John MacDonald. Both grandfathers were Donald and each had a living grandson named for him!

It gets even better when every eldest son marries an eldest daughter: Henry marries a Margaret - they have a Henry and a Margaret - that Henry marries a Margaret or Margaret marries a Henry. That's when the "Auld Henry", "Wee Henry", "Big Henry" and "Margaret's Henry" all come into play. Easy Peasy keeping them all straight!

Happy Searching!