Scottish Viking Surnames: 40 Norse Last Names and Meanings

Scottish Viking surnames come in three main types: Norse personal names wrapped in a Gaelic Mac, such as MacLeod, MacAulay, MacIver and MacAskill; Orkney and Shetland farm names, such as Linklater, Isbister and Kirkness; and island son-of names that froze into surnames, such as Manson, Jamieson and Williamson. Add the Caithness name Gunn and you have the best-known Norse surnames in Scotland. Shetland used changing patronymics until about 1800, according to the Shetland Family History Society, so many of its surnames are only around two centuries old.

Scottish Norse last names are family names shaped by the long Norse presence in northern and western Scotland, especially Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and the Hebrides. Names such as Gunn, Raven and Harold can preserve Old Norse words or personal names, though a surname alone cannot prove descent from a particular Viking ancestor.

The useful clue is geography as much as spelling. Norse settlers established communities across Scotland’s northern isles and Atlantic coast between the Viking Age and the medieval period, where their language mixed with Gaelic, Scots and later English naming traditions.

For family-history research, a surname is a starting point, not a verdict. Spellings shifted, families moved, and many modern surnames became fixed long after the first Norse settlers arrived. Comparing a suspected Norse name with broader lists of Scottish last names beginning with G or Scottish last names beginning with M can also help separate a regional clue from a coincidence.

This page is for you if your family name has a northern or island ring to it and you want to know whether the Viking link is real, likely or wishful thinking. Use the checker below to look up your surname, then read the sections on how each type of Norse surname formed and the five island names that only look Norse.

If you are interested in specific last or first names of the Scottish origin, try our interactive tool below:

Why Norse Names Took Root in Scotland

Norse people did more than raid Scotland’s coasts. They settled, farmed, traded and built communities in places connected by sea routes to Norway, Ireland and the wider North Atlantic. Historic Environment Scotland identifies Norse settlement remains at Jarlshof in Shetland, including longhouses and outbuildings, and at the Brough of Birsay in Orkney, where a Norse settlement dates from the ninth to the 11th centuries.

Those places help explain why northern island surnames and place names can sound markedly different from Lowland Scottish names. A household might adopt or inherit a name based on a Norse-speaking forebear, a farm, an occupation or a characteristic. Over generations, the original word could be altered to suit Gaelic or Scots pronunciation.

Caithness also sits at the heart of this story. Its close maritime links with the northern isles made it part of the Norse-Gaelic world for centuries. In the Hebrides, Norse settlement met a powerful Gaelic culture, producing names and identities that cannot be sorted into neat modern boxes. Family history is rarely that obliging.

Orkney and Shetland stayed Norse the longest. Orkney was pledged to Scotland by Christian I in 1468 and Shetland followed the next year, and as the money was never paid, the islands stayed Scottish. In the Hebrides the replacement of older place names with Norse ones was, in the same article’s words, almost total, and the Outer Hebrides council factfile still lists MacLeod, MacAulay and MacIver among the common island surnames.

The three types of Scottish Viking surname

Almost every Scottish surname with a real Norse link fits one of three patterns. Knowing which one yours belongs to tells you where to look for the paper trail.

Type	How it formed	Examples	Where
Norse name in Gaelic dress	A Norse first name became Gaelic, then took the Gaelic Mac, meaning son of	MacLeod, MacAulay, MacIver, MacAskill, MacCorquodale, Lamont	Hebrides, Skye, Argyll
Orkney or Shetland farm name	A family was known by the farm it held, and the farm name stuck	Linklater, Isbister, Kirkness, Clouston, Corrigall, Rendall	Orkney, Shetland
Northern Isles patronymic	A son-of name that changed every generation until it was frozen as a fixed surname	Manson, Jamieson, Williamson, Nicolson, Hughson	Shetland, Orkney, Caithness

The first type is the one most people mean by Norse-Gaelic. The Norse-Gaels were, as their Wikipedia entry puts it, a people of mixed Gaelic and Norse ancestry and culture who dominated the Irish Sea and Scottish Sea regions from the 9th to the 12th centuries. Their Norse names went into Gaelic and came out the other side as Mac surnames: Ljótr became Leòd and then MacLeod, Óláfr became Amhlaidh and then MacAulay.

The farm names are an Orkney and Shetland speciality. Endings such as bister, from Old Norse bólstaðr, meaning a farm or dwelling place, and setter, an out-pasture, are everywhere on the islands’ maps, and families who held those farms took their names. That is why an Orkney phone book reads like an Ordnance Survey map.

The son-of names are the sneakiest. Jamieson or Williamson look like ordinary Lowland Scots names, and in their words they are. What makes them Norse in habit is how late Shetland kept changing them with each generation, long after the rest of Scotland had settled on fixed surnames.

How common are Norse surnames in Scotland today?

Gunn, Manson and the big Mac names are still well up the national list. The National Records of Scotland count for 2025, based on surnames in that year’s birth, marriage and death registers, puts MacLeod at 537 entries once you add the Macleod and Mcleod spellings together, which NRS counts separately. Gunn had 93 and Manson 66. The farm names are far rarer on the mainland: Linklater scraped onto the list with 12, and Isbister, Kirkness and Clouston fell below the cut-off of ten.

Go back to the 1881 census and the islands look very different. Sinclair was top in Orkney with 995, with Flett, Rendall, Linklater, Clouston and Kirkness all in the top 30, while Shetland’s list was dominated by son-of names: Williamson (1,219), Johnson (897), Jamieson (872), Nicolson (547) and Manson (498), according to the counts collected by British Surnames for Shetland and for Orkney.

Surname	Type	Scotland 2025 (NRS)	Orkney 1881	Shetland 1881
MacLeod (Macleod + Mcleod)	Norse name in Gaelic dress	537
MacAulay (all three spellings)	Norse name in Gaelic dress	143
MacIver (all three spellings)	Norse name in Gaelic dress	90
Gunn	Norse name kept	93
Manson	Northern Isles patronymic	66	176	498
Williamson	Northern Isles patronymic	252		1,219
Jamieson	Northern Isles patronymic	199		872
Nicolson	Northern Isles patronymic	68		547
Flett	Norse name kept	21	518
Rendall	Orkney farm name	27	511
Linklater	Orkney farm name	12	381
Isbister	Orkney farm name	Under 10	195
Sinclair (Norman, not Norse)	Looks Norse, is not	267	995

Scottish Norse Surnames and Their Meanings

The examples below are among the clearest names with Norse associations in Scotland and northern Britain. Some are direct survivals of Old Norse forms, while others are later surnames built from Norse personal names.

Surname	Old Norse Connection	Meaning or Origin	Where the Link Is Most Relevant
Gunn	gunnr	“Battle” or “war”	Northern Scotland, including Orkney and Caithness
Raven	Hrafn	“Raven”	Norse cultural and personal-name tradition
Harold / Harald	Haraldr	Usually understood as “army ruler”	Scandinavian and Anglo-Norse naming traditions
Thoresen	Þórr	A patronymic built from the name Thor	Scandinavian-style family naming
Ormsby	Ormr + by	“Ormr’s farm” or settlement	Norse settlement-name tradition in northern Britain

Gunn

Gunn is one of the strongest Scottish examples because it is linked to the Old Norse word gunnr, meaning battle or war. It is also associated with the Highland Clan Gunn, a connection that makes it particularly familiar in Caithness and the far north. Like many old names, its exact route into every individual family line needs documentary research.

Alexander MacBain’s Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (1911) traces it to Gunni, the name of a son of Olaf, a Caithness chief in the Orkneyinga Saga, and a short pet form of longer names that start with gunnr. The clan came from Caithness and settled in Kildonan in Sutherland, and Gunn still had 93 entries in Scotland’s 2025 registers.

Raven

Raven comes from the Old Norse personal name Hrafn, meaning raven. Ravens had a prominent place in Norse symbolism and storytelling, including associations with Odin. In a family-name context, Raven may have begun as a personal name or nickname before becoming hereditary in some lines.

Harold and Harald

Harold and Harald preserve a famous Scandinavian personal name, often interpreted as “army ruler.” The name is associated with figures such as Harald Hardrada, killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Its appearance in Scotland can reflect the broad movement of Norse names through Scandinavian, Anglo-Norse and Scottish communities.

In the Gaelic west the same name went into a Mac surname instead: Harailt gave MacRaild, a small Skye family that the Gaelic scholar Ronald Black counts among the island families of Norse extraction.

Thoresen

Thoresen follows a recognisably Scandinavian patronymic pattern: a son identified through a father whose name referred to Thor. The ending -sen means “son of” in Scandinavian naming traditions. That pattern is useful context, but it should not be confused with the Scottish Gaelic Mac, which also means “son” but comes from a different language family.

Ormsby

Ormsby is built from the Norse personal name Ormr, meaning serpent or dragon, plus -by, a term for a farmstead or settlement. It is a particularly clear example of how Norse place-name elements could become surnames. The -by ending is especially familiar in parts of northern England, so an Ormsby line calls for careful regional research before claiming a specifically Scottish origin.

Norse-Gaelic surnames from the Hebrides and Argyll

These are the names where a Viking first name hides inside a Gaelic surname. The meanings come from MacBain’s dictionary and from Ronald Black’s The last Norsemen in the Isles?, which lists eleven Skye families of Norse extraction.

MacAulay

Origin: MacAmhlaidh, from Old Norse Óláfr. Meaning: son of Óláfr (Olaf), read as the gods’ relic or heir. Where: Hebrides and Skye. Today: 143 in 2025 (Macaulay 63, Mcauley 46, Mcaulay 34), NRS.

The Lewis MacAulays were centred on Uig, on the west coast of the island. Óláfr was a royal name across the Norse world, and MacBain reads it as the relic, or heir, of the gods. Expect three spellings in the records, Macaulay, McAuley and McAulay, and count them all if you are tracing a line.

MacIver

Origin: MacÌomhair, from Old Norse Ívarr. Meaning: son of Ívarr (Ivor). Where: Hebrides and Skye. Today: 90 in 2025 (Maciver 38, Mcivor 33, Mciver 19), NRS.

Ìomhar, the Gaelic form of Ívarr, gave both the surname and the first name Ivor. MacIvers turn up in two places, Argyll and Lewis, so the region your earliest record comes from matters more than the spelling.

MacAskill

Origin: MacAsgaill, from Old Norse Ásketill. Meaning: son of Ásketill, the gods’ cauldron. Where: Hebrides and Skye. Today: 41 in 2025 (Macaskill), NRS.

Ásketill, the gods’ cauldron, is about as pagan as a Scottish surname gets. The MacAskills are tied to Rubh’ an Dùnain on Skye, and the MacAskills of Rubh’ an Dùnain Society hosts Ronald Black’s article on the island’s Norse families.

MacCorquodale

Origin: Mac Corcadail, from Old Norse Þorketill. Meaning: son of Thorketill, Thor’s cauldron. Where: Argyll and the west. Today: Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list).

The Norse Thorketill, Thor’s cauldron, shrank to Torquil in Gaelic and gave this surname, first recorded as Makcorquydill in 1434. It is rare today, with fewer than ten entries a year in Scotland’s registers, which makes it one of the more distinctive names on this page.

Lamont

Origin: MacLaomainn, from Old Norse lögmaðr. Meaning: lawman, the lawspeaker. Where: Argyll and the west. Today: 55 in 2025, NRS.

A rare case of a Norse job title becoming a surname. The lögmaðr was the lawspeaker, and Clan Lamont held most of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll for centuries. There were 55 Lamonts in Scotland’s 2025 registers.

MacSorley

Origin: Somhairle, from Old Norse Sumarliði. Meaning: son of Somerled, the summer sailor (a viking). Where: Argyll and the west. Today: 19 in 2025 (Mcsorley), NRS.

Somerled, killed at Renfrew in 1164, carried a Norse name that MacBain translates as summer sailor, which is a polite way of saying viking. Clan Donald and the MacDougalls both claim him, and MacSorley keeps his name in its plainest form.

What About MacLeod, MacAulay and Other Highland Names?

Some Scottish surnames associated with the Hebrides and western Highlands are often discussed alongside Norse heritage because Norse and Gaelic communities overlapped for generations. MacLeod, for example, is traditionally connected with Leod, a personal name often treated as Norse in origin. The surname itself uses the Gaelic patronymic prefix Mac, showing how languages could combine in one family identity.

A book on Scottish clans and tartans is helpful for the Highland and Hebridean families listed here.

MacBain is blunter about it: Leòd comes from the Norse Ljótr, a common Norse name that meant ugly. Leod himself is said to have died around 1280. If you want the Gaelic side of the same name, our guide to Scottish Gaelic surnames and their meanings covers Mac Leòid alongside MacDonald and MacKenzie.

This is an important distinction. A name can have a Norse personal-name root but a Gaelic surname form. It may also have been adopted by people who shared a region, language or lordship with Norse-descended families. In the Hebrides especially, “Norse” and “Gaelic” are often part of the same historical landscape. Names beginning with M can show the same mix of Gaelic surname forms and older personal-name influences.

Clan membership adds another layer, since a clan could take in families with quite different surnames. Our explainer on how Scottish clan surnames work goes through that in more detail.

Orkney and Shetland surnames from farms and fathers

The Northern Isles produced two kinds of surname the rest of Scotland barely has. Fiona Sinclair’s notes on Orcadian families, drawn from old rentals and family histories, show how many Orkney names are simply farms, while Shetland’s records are full of fathers’ names that stopped changing.

Linklater

Origin: farm of Linklater (Lynkclet), Sandwick, Orkney. Meaning: named after the farm. Where: Orkney. Today: 12 in 2025, NRS; 381 in Orkney in 1881.

Linklater of that Ilk, meaning the family named after its own land, held a threepenny land in Sandwick, written Lynkclet in the old rentals. With 381 in Orkney in 1881, it was the 13th most common name in Orkney.

Isbister

Origin: Old Norse austr + bólstaðr. Meaning: the easterly farm. Where: Orkney. Today: Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 195 in Orkney in 1881.

Bister is the Norse bólstaðr, a farm, and Isbister is the easterly farm, according to the Shetland Amenity Trust. There are Isbisters in both island groups, so a family with this name could come from either.

Kirkness

Origin: farm of Kirkness, Sandwick, Orkney. Meaning: church + headland (kirk, ness). Where: Orkney. Today: Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 224 in Orkney in 1881.

From the farm of Kirkness in Sandwick, built from two of the most common Orkney place-name elements, kirk (church) and ness (a point of land). It had 224 bearers in Orkney in 1881 and fewer than ten entries a year in Scotland’s registers today.

Rendall

Origin: parish of Rendall, Orkney. Meaning: the place name reads valley of the Renna. Where: Orkney. Today: 27 in 2025, NRS; 511 in Orkney in 1881.

Named after the parish of Rendall, which Northlink’s guide to Orkney place names reads as valley of the Renna. Rendall was the sixth most common Orkney surname in 1881, with 511 people.

Flett

Origin: Norse family name. Meaning: not certain. Where: Orkney. Today: 21 in 2025, NRS; 518 in Orkney in 1881.

One of the few Orkney names the old family histories call Norse outright, tracing it to a Harald Flett, Danish by family. It was the fourth most common surname in Orkney in 1881, with 518.

Manson

Origin: Magnusson, son of Magnus. Meaning: son of Magnus. Where: Caithness and Sutherland. Today: 66 in 2025, NRS; 498 in Shetland and 176 in Orkney in 1881.

The Manson surname is an anglicised Magnusson, son of Magnus, most common in Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, and counted as a sept of Clan Gunn.

Jamieson

Origin: son of James (Shetland patronymic). Meaning: son of James. Where: Shetland. Today: 199 in 2025, NRS; 872 in Shetland in 1881.

The Shetland Family History Society uses this exact name to explain the old system: Robert, the son of James Hughson, would be Robert Jamieson. Shetland had 872 Jamiesons in 1881. If yours is a Shetland line, our guide to Scottish last names beginning with J has the wider Scottish picture.

Williamson

Origin: son of William (Shetland patronymic). Meaning: son of William. Where: Shetland. Today: 252 in 2025, NRS; 1,219 in Shetland in 1881.

The second most common surname in Shetland in 1881, with 1,219, just behind Smith. It is the clearest sign of how a son-of system works out over time: the commonest fathers’ names end up as the commonest surnames.

How Surnames Developed After the Viking Age

Viking-age Scandinavians generally used changing patronymics, identifying a person as the son or daughter of a parent. A man known as Bjorn’s son could be called Bjornsson, while his own son might carry a different descriptive name. Permanent inherited surnames developed later and unevenly across Scotland.

How unevenly is striking. The Scottish surnames entry on Wikipedia says patronymics died out in the Lowlands after the 15th century, lasted until the 18th century in the Gaelic-speaking Highlands, and were still common in Shetland in the first half of the 19th century.

That is why a modern surname ending in -son or -sen is not automatic proof of Viking ancestry. It may reflect Scandinavian naming, a later Scottish or English patronymic, or a spelling selected by record keepers. Names are durable, but they also pick up new coats of paint as they pass through parish registers, censuses and legal papers.

Where To Look for Norse Family-Name Clues

Start by mapping where the earliest documented members of your family lived. A Gunn line rooted in Caithness or Orkney carries a different historical context from the same surname first recorded in Glasgow several centuries later. Parish registers, census returns, gravestones and estate records can establish that local trail.

• Orkney: Look for families tied to parishes near sites such as the Brough of Birsay, where Norse settlement remains sit above earlier Pictish traces.
• Shetland: Use local place names and records alongside surname evidence. Jarlshof demonstrates the depth of settlement history on the islands, though archaeology cannot identify a modern family line by itself.
• Caithness: Pay attention to links with the northern isles, as well as later movement south through Scotland.
• The Hebrides: Check Gaelic variants, anglicised spellings and local naming customs. A single ancestor may appear under several spellings in historical records.

For the farm names in particular, it helps to know how place-name surnames work in general, and our guide to Scottish surnames from places covers the mainland versions of the same habit.

A genealogy research notebook is handy for recording variant spellings, locations and document references as you go. It sounds gloriously unglamorous, but it is far easier than trying to reconstruct a family tree from a browser-history archaeology dig. It can also help to compare unusual spellings against lists of Scottish surnames beginning with R and Scottish surnames beginning with H, since a clerk’s spelling choice could send a family line down an unexpected alphabetical path.

How To Avoid Overclaiming Viking Ancestry

Use a surname to form a research question: “Was this family established in a Norse-influenced part of Scotland?” Avoid using it as a final answer. The strongest case combines a plausible name origin with an early paper trail in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness or the Hebrides.

DNA results can add broad regional context, but they do not usually identify a named Viking ancestor or prove that one surname came down a single unbroken line. Documentary evidence remains the practical backbone of genealogical work.

Quick list: all 45 surnames on this page

Surname	Origin	Meaning	Type	Region	Today
Clouston	farm of Clouston, Sandwick, Orkney	named after the farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 286 in Orkney in 1881
Corrigall	township of Corrigall, Harray, Orkney	named after the farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Cursetter	farm of Cursetter, Firth, Orkney	a setter, an out-pasture farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Fea	several places called Fea in Orkney	named after a farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Flett	Norse family name	not certain	Norse name kept as a surname	Orkney	21 in 2025, NRS; 518 in Orkney in 1881
Foubister	farm of Fowbustare, Orkney	a bister (bólstaðr) farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Georgeson	son of George (Shetland patronymic)	son of George	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 270 in Shetland in 1881
Gunn	Guinne, from Old Norse Gunni	a pet form of names starting gunnr, war	Norse name kept as a surname	Caithness and Sutherland	93 in 2025, NRS
Halcro	possibly a headland in South Ronaldsay	uncertain	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Harcus	Harcarse in Berwickshire	named after a place	Looks Norse, is not	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 294 in Orkney in 1881
Heddle	farm of Haddale, Firth, Orkney	named after the farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Hourston	farm of Hourston, North Sandwick, Orkney	named after the farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Hughson	son of Hugh (Shetland patronymic)	son of Hugh	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 332 in Shetland in 1881
Isbister	Old Norse austr + bólstaðr	the easterly farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 195 in Orkney in 1881
Jamieson	son of James (Shetland patronymic)	son of James	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	199 in 2025, NRS; 872 in Shetland in 1881
Johnson	son of John (Shetland patronymic)	son of John	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	204 in 2025, NRS; 897 in Shetland in 1881
Kirkness	farm of Kirkness, Sandwick, Orkney	church + headland (kirk, ness)	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 224 in Orkney in 1881
Knarston	farm of Knarston (Nerstaith), Harray, Orkney	named after the farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Lamont	MacLaomainn, from Old Norse lögmaðr	lawman, the lawspeaker	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Argyll and the west	55 in 2025, NRS
Leask	Leask in Buchan, Aberdeenshire	named after a place	Looks Norse, is not	Shetland	30 in 2025, NRS; 479 in Shetland and 190 in Orkney in 1881
Linklater	farm of Linklater (Lynkclet), Sandwick, Orkney	named after the farm	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	12 in 2025, NRS; 381 in Orkney in 1881
MacAskill	MacAsgaill, from Old Norse Ásketill	son of Ásketill, the gods’ cauldron	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	41 in 2025 (Macaskill), NRS
MacAulay	MacAmhlaidh, from Old Norse Óláfr	son of Óláfr (Olaf), read as the gods’ relic or heir	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	143 in 2025 (Macaulay 63, Mcauley 46, Mcaulay 34), NRS
MacCodrum	MacCodrum, from Old Norse Guttormr	son of Guttormr, good or god serpent	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
MacCorquodale	Mac Corcadail, from Old Norse Þorketill	son of Thorketill, Thor’s cauldron	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Argyll and the west	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
MacCrimmon	MacCruimein, possibly from Old Norse Hróðmundr	possibly son of Hróðmundr, famed protector	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
MacDougall	MacDhùghaill, from Gaelic Dubhghall	son of Dugald, the dark stranger, an old Gaelic word for a Dane	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Argyll and the west	141 in 2025 (Mcdougall 94, Macdougall 47), NRS
MacIver	MacÌomhair, from Old Norse Ívarr	son of Ívarr (Ivor)	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	90 in 2025 (Maciver 38, Mcivor 33, Mciver 19), NRS
MacLachlan	MacLachlainn, probably from Lochlann	son of Lachlan; Lochlann meant Scandinavia, the fjord land	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Argyll and the west	106 in 2025 (Mclachlan 80, Maclachlan 26), NRS
MacLeod	Mac Leòid, from Old Norse Ljótr	son of Ljótr, a Norse name meaning ugly	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	537 in 2025 (Macleod 368, Mcleod 169), NRS
MacManus	MacMhànais, from Norse Magnús	son of Magnus, from Latin magnus, great	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Argyll and the west	75 in 2025 (Mcmanus), NRS
MacRaild	MacRaild, from Old Norse Haraldr	son of Harald	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
MacRanald	MacRaonaill, from Old Norse Rögnvaldr	son of Ranald, ruler of the gods or of counsel	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	Under 10 a year as MacRanald (not in the NRS list)
MacSorley	Somhairle, from Old Norse Sumarliði	son of Somerled, the summer sailor (a viking)	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Argyll and the west	19 in 2025 (Mcsorley), NRS
MacSwan	MacSuain, from Old Norse Sveinn	son of Sveinn, boy or young man	Norse name in Gaelic dress	Hebrides and Skye	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list)
Mainland	an Orkney place name	named after a place	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	Under 10 a year (not in the NRS list); 180 in Orkney in 1881
Manson	Magnusson, son of Magnus	son of Magnus	Northern Isles patronymic	Caithness and Sutherland	66 in 2025, NRS; 498 in Shetland and 176 in Orkney in 1881
Mowat	Anglo-Norman Monte Alto	the high mount	Looks Norse, is not	Orkney	35 in 2025, NRS; 367 in Orkney in 1881
Nicolson	son of Nicol; Gaelic MacNeacail	son of Nicol (from Greek Nikolaos)	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	169 in 2025 (Nicholson 101, Nicolson 68), NRS; 547 in Shetland in 1881
Peterson	son of Peter (Shetland patronymic)	son of Peter	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	16 in 2025, NRS; 300 in Shetland in 1881
Rendall	parish of Rendall, Orkney	the place name reads valley of the Renna	Orkney or Shetland farm name	Orkney	27 in 2025, NRS; 511 in Orkney in 1881
Sandison	son of Sandy (Alexander)	son of Sandy	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	27 in 2025, NRS; 214 in Shetland in 1881
Sinclair	Norman, from Saint-Clair in Normandy	of Saint-Clair	Looks Norse, is not	Orkney	267 in 2025, NRS; 995 in Orkney in 1881 (top name)
Tulloch	a Scottish place name	named after a place	Looks Norse, is not	Shetland	36 in 2025, NRS; 373 in Shetland and 429 in Orkney in 1881
Williamson	son of William (Shetland patronymic)	son of William	Northern Isles patronymic	Shetland	252 in 2025, NRS; 1,219 in Shetland in 1881

Frequently Asked Questions About Scottish Norse Last Names

What are some Scottish Viking surnames?

The best-known Scottish Viking surnames are MacLeod, MacAulay, MacIver, MacAskill and MacCorquodale in the west, Gunn and Manson in Caithness, and Orkney and Shetland names such as Linklater, Isbister, Kirkness, Flett and Rendall. Each of them comes from a Norse personal name, a Norse farm name or a frozen island patronymic.

Do Scottish surnames prove Viking ancestry?

No. A Scottish surname with a Norse origin can point to a historical connection, especially in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and the Hebrides, but it cannot prove direct descent from a particular Viking individual.

Is MacLeod a Viking name?

Partly. MacLeod is a Gaelic surname, Mac Leòid, meaning son of Leod, but Leod is from the Old Norse name Ljótr, which MacBain’s Gaelic dictionary translates as ugly. Leod is said to have died around 1280, and the clan’s homelands on Skye and in the Western Isles were part of the Norse-Gaelic world.

What Scottish surname has a Norse meaning of battle?

Gunn is linked to the Old Norse word gunnr, meaning battle or war. It has long-standing associations with northern Scotland and Clan Gunn.

Are surnames ending in -son always Viking names?

No. The ending -son is a patronymic marker meaning “son of,” but it appears in several naming traditions. It is a useful clue only when supported by geography, records and the name’s wider history.

What are Norse Gaelic surnames?

Norse-Gaelic surnames are Gaelic Mac surnames built on Norse first names, left by the mixed Norse and Gaelic people of the Hebrides and the west coast. MacLeod (from Ljótr), MacAulay (Óláfr), MacIver (Ívarr), MacAskill (Ásketill), MacCorquodale (Thorketill) and Lamont (lögmaðr, lawman) are the clearest examples.

Which parts of Scotland have the strongest Norse heritage?

Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and the Hebrides have especially strong Norse historical connections. Archaeological sites including Jarlshof in Shetland and the Brough of Birsay in Orkney preserve physical evidence of Norse settlement.

The Most Useful Way To Read a Scottish Norse Surname

A Scottish Norse surname is best read as a surviving fragment of a larger story about migration, language and local communities. Gunn may point toward an Old Norse word for battle, Raven toward Hrafn, and Ormsby toward a farm named for Ormr. The family records tell you where that fragment belongs.

For people tracing roots in the northern isles, Caithness or the Hebrides, that combination of name, place and paperwork can turn a broad Viking connection into a much more grounded family history.

And if the research ends with a trip north, which it often does, our round-up of the best Scottish islands to visit covers how to get to Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. Pack a proper waterproof; the Vikings had longships, you will have a ferry and the same weather.

Sources

• Alexander MacBain, An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, 1911 (Personal names and surnames)
• Ronald Black, The last Norsemen in the Isles?, West Highland Free Press, 2007
• National Records of Scotland, Most Common Surnames 2025, published 26 May 2026
• Shetland Family History Society, research tips (patronymics)
• Fiona Sinclair, Orcadian families
• Shetland Amenity Trust, Place name of the week: bisters
• British Surnames, top surnames in Orkney, 1881 census
• Wikipedia, Norse-Gaels