Scots-Irish names, also called Scotch-Irish names, are the first names Lowland Scots carried to Ulster in the 1600s and on to America in the 1700s: John, William, James, Robert, Thomas, Andrew and Alexander for boys, and Margaret, Elizabeth, Janet, Jean, Agnes and Mary for girls. In the 1630 muster roll for County Donegal, more than one man in four was called John: about 363 of the 1,319 named men, by our count of the transcription published in the Donegal Annual. These were Scottish names first, so the Scottish naming habits, pet forms and spellings are the key to reading them.
This guide is part of our Scottish Names collection. Start with the Scottish Names directory, or read our Scots-Irish surnames guide for the family names that travelled with these first names.
This is written for family historians with Ulster or Appalachian roots, and for parents who want a name with a real Scots-Irish story rather than a made-up Celtic one. You get the names the planters actually used, counted from a 1630 muster roll, the Scottish naming pattern that decided which child got which name, the pet forms that make old records so confusing, and how each name is doing today.
A wee bit of history. Scottish settlers moved into Ulster in large numbers between 1606 and 1641, from Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders among other places, according to the Ulster-Scots Agency. Their descendants then crossed the Atlantic: over 200,000 people from Ulster settled in the American colonies between 1717 and 1775, landing at Philadelphia and New Castle and moving down the Shenandoah Valley into Appalachia, per Wikipedia on Scotch-Irish Americans. The term Scotch-Irish itself is an Americanism, mostly unknown in Scotland and Ireland.
Two Scots Abroad · Scottish names
Scots-Irish first name finder
51 first names from the Ulster Plantation and Scottish registers. Filter by boy or girl, by where the name came from, and by whether it shows up in the 1630 Donegal muster roll, as a Scots form, or in Scotland’s 2025 baby names.
Nothing matches that. Clear a filter or try a shorter search.
What first names did the Ulster Scots use?
John, William, James and Robert, by a distance. Muster rolls listed the able-bodied British men each landlord could call up, and the 1630 roll for County Donegal is full of Scottish planters on the Duke of Lennox’s and the Cunninghams’ estates. We counted the first names in the published transcription. Treat the figures as approximate, because spellings wander and a few entries are hard to read, but the pattern is unmistakable.
| Rank | Name | Men in the 1630 Donegal roll | Share | Scottish babies in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John | about 363 | 28% | 50 |
| 2 | William | about 133 | 10% | 80 |
| 3 | James | about 125 | 9.5% | 199 |
| 4 | Robert | about 113 | 9% | 61 |
| 5 | Thomas | about 56 | 4% | 155 |
| 6 | Andrew | about 48 | 4% | 47 |
| 7 | George | about 42 | 3% | 88 |
| 8 | Alexander | about 41 | 3% | 151 |
| 9 | Patrick | about 39 | 3% | 44 |
| 10 | David | about 33 | 2.5% | 58 |
| 11 | Archibald | about 29 | 2% | 7 (Archie: 222) |
| 12 | Richard | about 22 | 2% | not counted here |
Our count lines up with the genealogist who transcribed the rolls. Across three 1630 rolls, Donegal plus the Mercers’ and Ironmongers’ estates in County Londonderry, he found 398 Johns in 1,300 or so names, about 30 per cent, with William at 11.4 per cent and Robert at 9.2 per cent. In other words, if you are hunting a planter called John in Donegal, good luck to you.
The long tail is just as Scottish: Duncan, Gilbert, Walter, Hugh, Archibald, Mungo and Ninian all appear. Nearly three centuries later the top four had not budged: Scotland’s NRS lists for 1900 and 1950 had John, James, William and Robert in the same top four positions, and NISRA reports that John and Mary are the most registered names in Northern Ireland since 1922. What changed is the last 50 years: in 2025 only 50 Scottish babies were called John, while National Records of Scotland counted 199 Jameses and 222 Archies.
How Scots-Irish families chose a name
Most families followed a naming pattern, which is why the same few names repeat down a family tree like a stuck record. ScotlandsPeople sets out the traditional Scottish pattern:
| Child | Named after |
|---|---|
| First son | Father’s father |
| Second son | Mother’s father |
| Third son | Father |
| First daughter | Mother’s mother |
| Second daughter | Father’s mother |
| Third daughter | Mother |
The pattern was never universal: some families followed it strictly, some dabbled, and some ignored it. A new bairn (baby) could also be named after a minister, a midwife, a doctor or an employer, and a name was often reused when a child died. If two grandfathers shared a first name, you can get two Johns in the same house. That is not a transcription error; that is a Scottish family.
The other trap is pet forms and swaps. ScotlandsPeople lists the ones that catch people out:
- Jane, Jean, Jessie and Janet could all be the same woman, depending on who held the pen.
- Agnes and Nancy, and Donald and Daniel, were treated as completely interchangeable.
- Gaelic names were anglicised by registrars: Morag became Mary, Iain became John, Hamish became James.
- Boys’ names were turned into girls’ names with -ina: Williamina, Jamesina, Thomasina, Georgina and Hughina, often shortened to Ina or Mina.
- Christian was quite a common girls’ name in Scotland, an alternative to Christina.
If a name in your tree is Gaelic rather than Scots, our list of Scottish Gaelic names has the Gaelic spellings and how to say them.
Where are the Bible names?
If you expected the planters to be full of Ebenezers and Jedidiahs, the 1630 roll will surprise you. Old Testament names barely appear: one Abraham, one Sampson, one Tobias, one Solomon (spelled Sallomon), one Joseph, two Nathaniels and two Daniels among 1,319 men. The big names were saints and apostles, John, James, Andrew, Thomas, Peter and Matthew, plus the royal and Norman names William, Robert, Alexander and Walter.
The religious temperature rose after the roll was taken. Thousands of Scots signed the National Covenant in February 1638, and the persecution that followed, the Killing Time of the 1680s, produced martyrs such as Richard Cameron, Donald Cargill and James Renwick. Covenanter congregations were set up in Ulster through the 17th century, and many of their members later moved to North America. The most famous martyr was a girl: Margaret Wilson, about 18, drowned at a stake in the Bladnoch at Wigtown on 11 May 1685, according to the Wigtown Martyrs record.
Scots-Irish boys’ names
John
Meaning: God has been gracious. Origin: Biblical (Hebrew). Scots forms: Iain, Ian (Gaelic forms); Jo. in old registers. 1630 roll: about 363 men. Scotland 2025: 50 babies.
The default name of the Plantation, at roughly 28 per cent of the Donegal roll. It comes from the Hebrew for God has been gracious, and in the Highlands the Gaelic form Iain was often written down as plain John. If you want the name with more Scottish flavour, see our Scottish names beginning with J.
William
Meaning: vehement protector. Origin: Germanic or French. Scots forms: Uilleam (Gaelic); Will, Wm. 1630 roll: about 133 men. Scotland 2025: 80 babies.
Second in 1630 with about 133 men. A Germanic name meaning vehement protector, brought to Britain by the Normans. The Gaelic form is Uilleam. Today it is a steadier pick in Scotland (80 babies in 2025) than John.
James
Meaning: holder of the heel, supplanter (from Jacob). Origin: Biblical (Hebrew). Scots forms: Seumas, Hamish; Jas., Jamie, Jimmy. 1630 roll: about 125 men. Scotland 2025: 199 babies.
The survivor. James (from Jacob, holder of the heel) was third in 1630 and is still 14th in Scotland, with 199 babies in 2025. Hamish is the anglicised spelling of the Gaelic Seumas, per the name history, and Highland registrars sometimes wrote Hamish down as James.
Robert
Meaning: fame-bright. Origin: Germanic or French. Scots forms: Rab, Rabbie. 1630 roll: about 113 men. Scotland 2025: 61 babies.
Fourth in the roll and the Bruce’s name, from a Germanic compound meaning fame-bright. Rab and Rabbie are the Scots pet forms, and Rabbie Burns made the second one immortal. It has slipped to 61 Scottish babies a year, which feels low for a national hero.
Andrew
Meaning: manly, brave. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Andro, Androw (early spellings). 1630 roll: about 48 men. Scotland 2025: 47 babies.
Scotland’s patron saint, from the Greek for manly or brave. Early registers spell it Andro and Androw. On the American side, two presidents with Ulster roots carried it: Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson. More in our Scottish first names beginning with A.
Alexander
Meaning: defending men. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Alasdair, Alistair, Sandy, Alec, Eck. 1630 roll: about 41 men. Scotland 2025: 151 babies.
From the Greek for defending men, and the name of three medieval kings of Scotland. Old registers abbreviate it to Alexr., and families shortened it to Alex, Alec, Sandy or Eck. It has bounced back hard: 151 Scottish babies in 2025.
Patrick
Meaning: nobleman, patrician. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Patt. in the 1630 roll. 1630 roll: about 39 men. Scotland 2025: 44 babies.
Latin for nobleman, and a reminder that Patrick was a Scottish planters’ name as well as an Irish one: about 39 Patricks, many written Patt., turn up in the Donegal roll.
Archibald
Meaning: precious + strong (Erkanbald). Origin: Germanic or French. Scots forms: Archie, Arch, Archbald. 1630 roll: about 29 men. Scotland 2025: 7 babies.
From Old High German Erkanbald, precious plus strong. About 29 men in the roll, some spelled Archbald or Arch. The full form is nearly extinct (seven Scottish babies in 2025) but Archie, with 222, was Scotland’s eighth most popular boys’ name.
Hugh
Meaning: heart, mind, soul. Origin: Germanic or French. Scots forms: Stand-in for Gaelic Aodh and Ùisdean. 1630 roll: about 19 men. Scotland 2025: 13 babies.
A Germanic name usually glossed as heart, mind or soul. In Gaelic Scotland and Ireland it was used as a stand-in for two unrelated names, Aodh and Ùisdean, so a Hugh in an old register may really have been one of those. Nineteen in the 1630 roll.
Mungo
Meaning: possibly my dear one, a pet name for St Kentigern. Origin: Gaelic or British. Scots forms: Kentigern. 1630 roll: about 6 men. Scotland 2025: not in the 2025 list.
The pet name of St Kentigern, Glasgow’s founder and patron saint, possibly from a British word meaning my dear one, per the saint history. Six Mungos turn up in the Donegal roll, a nod to Glasgow among the planters. It is a belter (a cracker) of a heritage name if you can carry it off. See our Scottish names beginning with M.
Ninian
Meaning: the saint of Whithorn; origin uncertain. Origin: Gaelic or British. Scots forms: Ringan (Scots). 1630 roll: about 3 men. Scotland 2025: not in the 2025 list.
The saint of Whithorn in Galloway, known in Scotland as Ringan, per the Whithorn history. Three Ninians appear in the 1630 roll. It is a name with Galloway roots.
Donald
Meaning: world-mighty (Domhnall). Origin: Gaelic or British. Scots forms: Donnell (1630), Daniel. 1630 roll: about 20 men. Scotland 2025: 8 babies.
From Gaelic Domhnall, world-mighty, anglicised as both Donald and Daniel, according to Woulfe. The 1630 roll spells it Donnell, and ScotlandsPeople warns that Donald and Daniel were used interchangeably, so check both when you search.
Scots-Irish girls’ names
Muster rolls only list men, so the girls’ names come from Scottish registers and the naming customs above. The same handful dominate: Margaret, Elizabeth, Janet, Jean, Agnes, Mary and Isabel.
Margaret
Meaning: pearl. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Mairead (Gaelic); Margt., Maggie, Meg, Peggy. 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: 14 babies.
Greek for pearl, and the name of St Margaret of Scotland. Registers abbreviate it to Margt. and families used Maggie, Meg and Peggy. It is also the name of the youngest Wigtown martyr. Only 14 Scottish babies got it in 2025, but Maggie had 26.
Elspeth
Meaning: Scottish form of Elizabeth. Origin: Biblical (Hebrew). Scots forms: Elsie. 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: 8 babies.
The Scottish form of Elizabeth (Hebrew, my God is an oath). Families shortened it to Elsie, Bessie, Betty or Beth. Elsie is the one having a moment: 135 Scottish babies in 2025. Our Scottish names beginning with E cover the rest.
Jean
Meaning: the Scottish form of Jane, God is gracious. Origin: Biblical (Hebrew). Scots forms: Jane, Jessie, Janet. 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: 4 babies.
The Scottish form of Jane, from the Hebrew for God is gracious. This is the name that drives family historians to drink, because ScotlandsPeople confirms the same woman could be recorded as Jane, Jean, Jessie or Janet. Old spellings of Janet include Jonet, Jhonet and Jannet.
Agnes
Meaning: pure, holy. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Nancy (interchangeable). 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: 5 babies.
Greek for pure or holy. Agnes and Nancy were completely interchangeable in Scottish records, so a Nancy in Appalachia may be an Agnes in Ayrshire. Nancy is the one parents choose now: 18 Scottish babies against 5 Agneses in 2025.
Euphemia
Meaning: well-spoken of. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Euphan, Eupham, Effie, Effy. 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: not in the 2025 list.
Greek for well-spoken of, and very Scottish in practice. Registers spell it Euphan or Eupham, and nearly everyone called it Effie. Effie had 22 Scottish babies in 2025.
Christian
Meaning: follower of Christ. Origin: Greek or Latin. Scots forms: Christina. 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: not in the 2025 list.
From the Greek for follower of Christ. ScotlandsPeople notes it was quite a common girls’ name in Scotland, used as an alternative to Christina, which is worth knowing before you assume a Christian in an old record was a man.
Alison
Meaning: little Alice (medieval French). Origin: Germanic or French. Scots forms: Alisoun, Alesoune, Alisone. 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: not in the 2025 list.
A medieval French nickname meaning little Alice, first recorded in Scotland in the 12th century. Old registers spell it Alisoun, Alesoune and Alisone.
Mary
Meaning: from Maria; perhaps love, beloved. Origin: Biblical (Hebrew). Scots forms: Morag (Gaelic, often registered as Mary). 1630 roll: not recorded. Scotland 2025: 14 babies.
From Maria, perhaps meaning love or beloved. In Gaelic areas Morag was often registered as Mary. Mary and John are the most registered names in Northern Ireland since 1922. For the Gaelic girls’ names behind the English forms, see our traditional Scottish Gaelic girl names.
Ulster names in the White House
The clearest American trace of these names is the presidency. Wikipedia lists more than a dozen presidents with Ulster-Scots ancestry, and three of them, Jackson, Buchanan and Arthur, had at least one parent born in Ulster. Look at the first names:
| President | Number | First name in the 1630 Donegal roll? |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Jackson | 7th | Yes, about 48 Andrews |
| James K. Polk | 11th | Yes, about 125 Jameses |
| James Buchanan | 15th | Yes |
| Andrew Johnson | 17th | Yes |
| Chester A. Arthur | 21st | Chester: no |
| William McKinley | 25th | Yes, about 133 Williams |
| Woodrow Wilson | 28th | Woodrow: no |
For the surnames on that list, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Johnson, McKinley and Wilson, our Ulster Scots surnames by county has where each family came from.
How to choose a Scots-Irish name
- You want the real Plantation name. Pick one of the top ten from the 1630 roll: James, William, Robert, Thomas, Andrew, Alexander or David. Every one of them is easy to spell and still in use in Scotland.
- You want something rarer with the same story. Go for Archibald, Walter, Duncan, Gilbert, Hugh or Hector for a boy, or Elspeth, Effie, Agnes, Alison or Christian for a girl. If the full form feels heavy, use the pet form up front: Archie, Effie and Elsie are all in fashion.
- You want a name that says west of Scotland. Mungo or Ninian. They are rare enough that nobody else at nursery will have one, and both come with a saint and a town.
If you are naming after an ancestor, use the naming pattern in reverse: the eldest son’s name usually tells you the paternal grandfather’s, and the eldest daughter’s the maternal grandmother’s. That is a cracking shortcut when the parish register stops.
Watch out for: names that were swapped by clerks. Donald and Daniel, Agnes and Nancy, and Jane, Jean, Jessie and Janet were used interchangeably, and Hugh stood in for two different Gaelic names. Search every form before you decide an ancestor vanished.
For the full Scottish surname picture behind these families, our British surnames guide covers names from all four nations.
Quick list: all 51 Scots-Irish first names
| Name | For | Origin | Meaning | Scots forms | 1630 Donegal roll | Scotland 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | father of many | Abram | about 1 | 3 |
| Adam | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | earth, soil | Adame | about 7 | 114 |
| Agnes | Girl | Greek or Latin | pure, holy | Nancy (interchangeable) | 5 | |
| Alasdair | Boy | Gaelic or British | Gaelic form of Alexander | Alistair, Alastair | 12 | |
| Alexander | Boy | Greek or Latin | defending men | Alasdair, Alistair, Sandy, Alec, Eck | about 41 | 151 |
| Alison | Girl | Germanic or French | little Alice (medieval French) | Alisoun, Alesoune, Alisone | ||
| Andrew | Boy | Greek or Latin | manly, brave | Andro, Androw (early spellings) | about 48 | 47 |
| Archibald | Boy | Germanic or French | precious + strong (Erkanbald) | Archie, Arch, Archbald | about 29 | 7 |
| Christian | Girl | Greek or Latin | follower of Christ | Christina | ||
| David | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | beloved | Davye (1630 spelling) | about 33 | 58 |
| Donald | Boy | Gaelic or British | world-mighty (Domhnall) | Donnell (1630), Daniel | about 20 | 8 |
| Duncan | Boy | Gaelic or British | chief, perhaps brown chief (Donnchadh) | Donnchadh, Dunkan (1630 spelling) | about 15 | 16 |
| Effie | Girl | Greek or Latin | pet form of Euphemia | Euphemia | 22 | |
| Elizabeth | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | my God is an oath | Elspeth, Elsie, Bessie, Betty, Eliza | 38 | |
| Elsie | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | pet form of Elizabeth and Elspeth | Elspeth | 135 | |
| Elspeth | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | Scottish form of Elizabeth | Elsie | 8 | |
| Euphemia | Girl | Greek or Latin | well-spoken of | Euphan, Eupham, Effie, Effy | ||
| Gabriel | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | God is my strength | Gabraell, Gabrahill (1630 spellings) | about 6 | 48 |
| George | Boy | Greek or Latin | farmer | Dod (Scots pet form) | about 42 | 88 |
| Hamish | Boy | Gaelic or British | anglicised Seumas, Gaelic James | Seumas | 74 | |
| Hector | Boy | Greek or Latin | to have or hold; also stands in for Gaelic Eachann | Eachann | about 3 | 10 |
| Hugh | Boy | Germanic or French | heart, mind, soul | Stand-in for Gaelic Aodh and Ùisdean | about 19 | 13 |
| Iain | Boy | Gaelic or British | Gaelic form of John | Ian | 8 | |
| Isabella | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | Italian form of Elizabeth, God is my oath | Isobel (Scottish form) | 114 | |
| James | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | holder of the heel, supplanter (from Jacob) | Seumas, Hamish; Jas., Jamie, Jimmy | about 125 | 199 |
| Jamesina | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | feminine of James | Ina | ||
| Janet | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | God is gracious; a diminutive of Jane | Jonet, Jhonet, Jannet (early spellings); Jessie | ||
| Jean | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | the Scottish form of Jane, God is gracious | Jane, Jessie, Janet | 4 | |
| Jessie | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | pet form recorded for Jane, Jean or Janet | Jean, Janet | 20 | |
| John | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | God has been gracious | Iain, Ian (Gaelic forms); Jo. in old registers | about 363 | 50 |
| Joseph | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | the Lord shall add (another son) | Jo | about 1 | 71 |
| Katherine | Girl | Greek or Latin | uncertain; later linked to Greek katharos, pure | Katie, Kate, Kath | 5 | |
| Margaret | Girl | Greek or Latin | pearl | Mairead (Gaelic); Margt., Maggie, Meg, Peggy | 14 | |
| Marion | Girl | Greek or Latin | French diminutive of Marie | Morag | ||
| Mary | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | from Maria; perhaps love, beloved | Morag (Gaelic, often registered as Mary) | 14 | |
| Matthew | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | gift of God | Mathew (1630 spelling) | about 10 | 65 |
| Morag | Girl | Gaelic or British | Gaelic name often registered as Mary | Mary | ||
| Mungo | Boy | Gaelic or British | possibly my dear one, a pet name for St Kentigern | Kentigern | about 6 | |
| Nancy | Girl | Greek or Latin | used interchangeably with Agnes | Agnes | 18 | |
| Nathaniel | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | a Hebrew name, from Nathanael | Nathaniell (1630 spelling) | about 2 | 14 |
| Ninian | Boy | Gaelic or British | the saint of Whithorn; origin uncertain | Ringan (Scots) | about 3 | |
| Patrick | Boy | Greek or Latin | nobleman, patrician | Patt. in the 1630 roll | about 39 | 44 |
| Peter | Boy | Greek or Latin | stone, rock | Pete | about 6 | 11 |
| Robert | Boy | Germanic or French | fame-bright | Rab, Rabbie | about 113 | 61 |
| Samuel | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | name of God | Sam | 71 | |
| Sandy | Boy | Gaelic or British | Scots pet form of Alexander | Sanders | 9 | |
| Thomas | Boy | Biblical (Hebrew) | twin (Aramaic) | Thomasina for girls | about 56 | 155 |
| Thomasina | Girl | Biblical (Hebrew) | feminine of Thomas | Ina | ||
| Walter | Boy | Germanic or French | army ruler, powerful ruler | Watt (the surname) | about 16 | 8 |
| William | Boy | Germanic or French | vehement protector | Uilleam (Gaelic); Will, Wm. | about 133 | 80 |
| Williamina | Girl | Germanic or French | feminine of William | Mina, Ina |
FAQ about Scots-Irish names
What are Scots-Irish names?
Scots-Irish names are the first names and surnames of the Lowland Scots who settled Ulster between 1606 and 1641 and whose descendants emigrated to America in the 1700s. The first names were mainly Scottish favourites: John, William, James, Robert, Andrew and Alexander for boys, and Margaret, Jean, Agnes and Elspeth for girls.
What are traditional Scotch-Irish first names?
In the 1630 Donegal muster roll the commonest men’s names were John, William, James, Robert, Thomas, Andrew, George, Alexander, Patrick and David. Women’s names from Scottish registers include Margaret, Elizabeth or Elspeth, Janet, Jean, Agnes, Euphemia, Christian and Mary, often recorded under pet forms such as Jessie, Nancy and Effie.
Is it Scots-Irish or Scotch-Irish?
Both are used. Scotch-Irish is the older American term, which historians describe as an Americanism largely unknown in Scotland and Ireland. Both spellings describe the same people, and you will meet both in American records and books. In Northern Ireland the same community is called Ulster Scots.
What was the Scottish naming pattern for children?
The first son was named after the father’s father, the second after the mother’s father and the third after the father. Daughters followed the mother’s mother, the father’s mother and then the mother. ScotlandsPeople notes that the pattern was never universal and faded during the 19th century.
Are Scots-Irish names Scottish or Irish?
Mostly Scottish. The settlers came from Lowland Scotland and brought Scottish first names with them, and the names were then used in Ulster for generations before the move to America. A few, such as Patrick and Hugh, were shared with the Irish, and Hugh often stood in for Gaelic names.
Final thoughts on Scots-Irish names
If you take one name from this page, take James: third in the 1630 roll, two presidents, and still in Scotland’s top 20 four centuries later. For a girl, Elspeth or Jean will get you the same continuity with a bit more Scottish character.
And if your own tree is full of Johns, you are not alone. More than a quarter of the men in that Donegal roll had the same name, which is why the surname, the townland and the naming pattern matter so much. For more ideas, browse our rare Scottish names.
Sources
- 1630 Muster Roll of the County of Donegal, as printed in the Donegal Annual (Torrens transcription)
- Richard Torrens, 1630 Ulster muster rolls and forename analysis
- Bill Macafee, 1622 and 1630 muster rolls for County Londonderry
- ScotlandsPeople (National Records of Scotland), Forenames research guide
- National Records of Scotland, Babies’ First Names 2025 (published 26 May 2026)
- History Scotland, Top 100 baby names in Scotland 1900 and 1950 (NRS data)
- NISRA, Most popular NI baby names registered in 2025 are Noah and Grace (16 April 2026)
- Wikipedia, Scotch-Irish Americans
- Ulster-Scots Agency, Discover Ulster-Scots: Surnames in Ulster
- Wikipedia, Covenanters
- Wikipedia, Wigtown Martyrs
- Wikipedia, Saint Mungo
- Wikipedia, Saint Ninian
- Rev. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923): Mac Domhnaill
- Wikipedia, James (given name)
