Scotland's dying art of traditional nicknames
A Scottish tradition of giving people a family name or a nickname based on their appearance, or where they are from or who their parents are is at risk of dying out, an academic has said.
The practice has been handed down through generations in west coast Gaelic-speaking communities, and examples include Ceitidh Ruadh (Red-haired Katie) and Pàdraig Murchadh Moilean (Peter, son of Murdo of the eyebrows).
Parts of the Hebrides - Lewis, Harris and Barra - have phonebooks listing people's official names alongside their nicknames.
Iain Taylor, who lectured at Scotland's Gaelic national centre - Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - in Skye for 20 years, said English language nicknames were replacing more traditional ones.
Urgent support needed for Gaelic language - report
Gaelic schools thrive while native language declines
Mr Taylor, who has written about Scottish personal names and place-names, said there was a good practical reason behind the tradition.
In the past, many families in traditional Gaelic areas adopted the name of the local clan chief.
He said this had resulted in a relatively small number of surnames.
Mr Taylor said: "In places like Scalpay and Harris there were very few first names and surnames generally used.
"So you could have 30 John Macleods.
"How do you distinguish between them all?"
The answer was to give a person a family name, which could be derived from patronymics and matronymics - names based on a father or mother's name.
Nicknames are also used, often inspired by where a person is from or what they look like.
Mr Taylor said: "I stayed in a township in South Uist and one of my neighbours was Ceitidh Ruadh - Red-haired Katie - and down the road there was Iain Mòr - Big or Tall John."
Other names include:
Alasdair Dhòmhnaill Mhòir (Alexander of Big Donald)
Calum Seònaid (Janet's Calum)
Alasdair Nìll Bhig (Little Neil's Alasdair)
Am Muileach (The Mull Man)
Nonsense nicknames have also been popular.
"My cousin's nickname was Queek and we have no idea why," said Mr Taylor.
Mr Taylor believes the decline started in the 1980s and was partly linked to improvements to TV transmitters.
This boosted the choice of channels for viewers in the islands from just BBC One to include BBC Two and Grampian (now STV).
Mr Taylor said a period of decline in the use of Gaelic may have further impacted on the tradition.
"I spent three years in Uist and even in that short time English language nicknames were replacing traditional ones," said Mr Taylor.
"You were hearing nicknames like Wee Guy and Bigfoot."
He said a similar tradition of nicknames, called tee-names, was used in north east Scotland and may have already disappeared.
Like the Gaelic tradition, tee-names were used to differentiate between families with the same surname.
Mr Taylor, who grew up in Moray, said: "I know some Woods were called Deacon - my great-granny was known locally as Alexina Deacon although she was Alexina Wood officially.
"Some Mairs were called Shavie and some Gardiners were known as Bo.
"I've seen examples from Portknockie, Findochty and Buckie."
Annie MacSween, of Ness Historical Society in Lewis, has also noticed a decline of the west coast tradition.
In the late 1970s she was seconded to a project that looked into the feasibility of bilingual education provision for the islands.
The initiative also encouraged greater community involvement in the running of the isles.
Mrs MacSween said: "A lot of my initial work was in the Ness community and only a number of houses had phones - remember this was a time long before mobile phones.
"The community association in Ness decided it would be a good idea to have a local telephone directory.
"The first one was printed by the Stornoway Gazette in 1977, I think it was.
"In it we had the official names of people and their nicknames or family names."
Four editions were printed with the last one in 2018.
Over the years, a book recording sheep tags used by local crofters was also produced.
It listed crofters by their formal names and also their family name or nickname.
Allan Campbell, who grew up in the north of Skye, said the names were an important part of his cultural identity.
"I think the patronymic names are really interesting to those who are interested in their own history, and I think that it's really important in terms of the language and the culture we have as Gaels," he said.
He said some names were based on a person's trade, such as a blacksmith, while others were clever word play.
When he was a schoolboy he was nicknamed Volt because his initials, AC, are an abbreviation for the electrical term "alternating current". He is still known by some people just by his nickname.
During his education he stayed in a hostel at Portree High School and patronymics and nicknames were used almost like a secret code.
He said: "In the dorm at night, when the lights went out, and the boys were talking about what had happened - maybe of some sort of mischief - they wouldn't be naming people by their real names because quite often the masters would be listening at the doors."
Genealogist Calum MacNeil said patronymic names were popular when he was growing up in Nask, a small community in Barra.
He said: "Almost nobody that lived in Nask originally came from Nask.
"They came from different places on the island. Because of that, we used their patronymic names."
Mr MacNeil said nicknames could be potentially contentious.
"There were some who were happy with the nickname they were given, and others that weren't," he said.
"There were also some that were happy with it but maybe their families weren't happy with it."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
a day ago
- Buzz Feed
46 Photos Of Things From The 19th And 18th Century
This 1800s 25¢ bill: This 1880s ID card: This 18th century diving suit: These 1800s shoes for crushing chestnuts: This 18th century fire alarm that you'd need to hit with a hammer to alert the village of a fire: This 18th century machine that let researchers read up to eight open books at once: This 1840s medical inhaler that administered anesthesia: This 18th century condom: This 1890s brass knuckle pistol: This 1850s women's self defense glove: This 1800s hidden staircase in a Victorian home: These 18th century sword-shaped Chinese coins: This 1830s clock: This 1700s oil lamp: This 1880s Victorian dollhouse: This 1740 wheelchair for Holy Roman Empress Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel: This 1820 coffin collar that prevented grave robbers from stealing corpses: This 18th century Scottish mortsafe to stop graverobbers: This 1890 steamer trunk that converts into a dresser: This 1880s penny farthing bike: This 1850 $10 bill: 1890s manners book: This 18th century gaming device that came before the pinball machine: This mid-1700s well that was glassed over and eventually became part of a home's kitchen: This 18th century French chair for reading books: This 1750s wall latern: This 18th century mansion's dog grave: This 18th century case of amputation instruments: This 18th century lock that requires four keys to open: This 18th century palace hall: This 1700s graffiti on a cathedral: This 18th century building in Norland, Norway: This 1700s lighthouse Fresnel lens: This 1800s sundial alarm clock: This 1800s pepperbox pistol: This 19th Century guide on how much you could sue for loosing a limb: This 1830 cost of a semester at Harvard: This 18th century uranium glass china that glows under UV light: This 1800s cemetery that was preserved in the basement of a building: This 1840 Japanese shadow puppet guide: This 1880 tap and die set (aka toolkit): This 1821 recipe for Ginger Ale: This 1800s corner chair: This 1800s telephone: This 19th century Victorian home library: And finally, this 19th century guide on who to avoid in the marriage market:
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Archaeologists may have finally solved the mystery of Roanoke's ‘Lost Colony'
A team of researchers believes they may have cracked one of America's most enduring legends: Where did the settlers of the Roanoke Colony go? The Roanoke Colony, also known as the Lost Colony, was the first permanent English settlement in the United States. A group of over 100 colonists settled on North Carolina's Roanoke Island in 1587, led by Sir Walter Raleigh. John White, the governor of the colony, returned to England for supplies in 1587. When he came back to Roanoke Island in August 1590, he found the settlement mysteriously abandoned – and all the colonists, including his daughter Eleanor Dare and his granddaughter Virginia Dare, gone. One of the only clues remaining at the site was the word 'CROATOAN' carved into a palisade. It either referred to Croatoan Island, which is now called Hatteras Island, or the Croatoan Indians. The mystery has haunted Americans and Brits for the past four centuries, with several investigations launched into the matter. Whether the colonists were killed by Native Americans, starved to death, or left for greener pastures has eluded historians. But new research suggests the colonists' fate may not have been tragic after all. Mark Horton, an archaeology professor at the Royal Agricultural University in England, spoke with Fox News Digital about his findings. 5 A team of researchers believes they may have cracked one of America's most enduring legends: Where did the settlers of the Roanoke Colony go? Getty Images For the past decade, the British researcher has worked with the Croatoan Archaeological Society's Scott Dawson to uncover the mystery. Horton said they've uncovered proof that the colonists assimilated into Croatoan society, thanks to a trash heap. 'We're looking at the middens — that's the rubbish heaps — of the Native Americans living on Hatteras Island, because we deduced that they would have very rapidly been assimilated into the Native American population,' Horton said. The smoking gun at the site? 5 The mystery has haunted Americans and Brits for the past four centuries, with several investigations launched into the matter. Youtube/IslandTimeTV Hammerscale, which are tiny, flaky bits of iron that come from forging iron. Horton said it's definitive proof of iron-working on Hatteras Island, which could have only been done by English colonists. 'The key significance of hammerscale … is that it's evidence of iron-working, of forging, at that moment,' he said. 'Hammerscale is what comes off a blacksmith's forge.' Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Horton added, 'This is metal that has to be raised to a relatively high temperature … which, of course, [requires] technology that Native Americans at this period did not have.' Hammerscale shows that the English 'must have been working' in this Native American community, according to the expert. But what if the hammerscale came longer after the Roanoke Colony was abandoned? Horton said that's unlikely. 'We found it stratified … underneath layers that we know date to the late 16th or early 17th century,' he said. 'So we know that this dates to the period when the lost colonists would have come to Hatteras Island.' 5 The Roanoke Colony, also known as the Lost Colony, was the first permanent English settlement in the United States. Getty Images 5 'We're looking at the middens — that's the rubbish heaps — of the Native Americans living on Hatteras Island, because we deduced that they would have very rapidly been assimilated into the Native American population,' Mark Horton, an archaeology professor at the Royal Agricultural University in England, said. Youtube/IslandTimeTV 'It's a combination of both its archaeological position but also the fact that it's evidence of people actually using an English technology.' At the site, archaeologists also found guns, nautical fittings, small cannonballs, an engraved slate and a stylus, in addition to wine glasses and beads, which all paint a vivid picture of life on Hatteras Island in the 17th century. When asked if the colonists could have been killed in a later war, Horton said they survived among the Croatoans and successfully assimilated. 'We have one little snippet of historical evidence from the 1700s, which describes people with blue or gray eyes who could remember people who used to be able to read from books,' he said. 'Also, they said there was this ghost ship that was sent out by a man called Raleigh.' 5 When asked if the colonists could have been killed in a later war, Horton said they survived among the Croatoans and successfully assimilated. Youtube/IslandTimeTV Horton added, 'We think that they assimilated into the Native American community and their descendants, their sons, their granddaughters, their grandsons carried on living on Hatteras Island until the early 18th century.' When asked if he's officially solved the mystery, Horton said that though the archaeological evidence is definitive, the legend will probably still endure. 'Have we solved the mystery? Well, you know, it's pretty good evidence, but there's always more work to be done,' he said. Horton added, 'And people love mysteries. They hate resolving things one way or the other. So I'm sure that the mystery will continue, you know, whatever the scientific evidence says.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Guilford Woods protected by Piedmont Land Conservancy
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The last-standing underdeveloped woods in Greensboro will be saved. Guilford Woods is packed with rich history from the Revolutionary War to the Underground Railroad and is an oasis of ecology. Guilford Woods is where the revolutionary soldiers once walked,and the freedom seekers hid. It's a home to many ecologies. Through the Piedmont Land Conservancy and Guilford College's partnership, the area will be officially protected. To Jim Hood, a retired English professor from Guilford College and a former interim president of Guilford College, Guilford Woods is a special place. 'I spent a lot of time walking around here and learning the names of the plants and animals that lived here,' Hood said. He said in a rapidly developing suburban area, Guilford Woods is the last remaining forest that is untouched, and that is important. 'These trees clean the air. This forest cleans the water for Greensboro,' Hood said. The memories, meaning, and legacy are rooted in nature. Hood highlighted the witness tree, which is approximately 350 years old. It's a silent witness to the operation of the Underground Railroad. 'Freedom seekers hiding out in these woods on their ways to Indiana or other parts of the north to get away from the evils of slavery,' he said. Guilford College and the Piedmont Land Conservancy have teamed up to preserve 120 acres of the most valuable areas of the woods. Now, Guilford Woods can continue to be used as an outdoor classroom and financially benefit the college. 'It's a way for the college to withdraw some money from an asset that was increasing in value not in a tangible kind of way, but this makes it more tangible,' he said. For Kevin Redding, the executive director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy, retracing the steps of the revolutionary soldiers made preserving the land a cause worth fighting for. 'Hundreds of years old forest. It has the history component to it. It has the educational component to it. It has a public available recreation part of it. It has everything we would wish in a conservation property,' Redding said. The Piedmont Land Conservancy plans on raising $8.5 million through private donations. In total, they will be preserving about 245 acres of land in the area, including Price Park. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
