According to National Records of Scotland (NRS), the most popular baby names in the country in 2018 were Olivia and Jack.
Here are Scotland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:
Girl Names
- Olivia, 444 baby girls
- Emily, 423
- Isla, 383
- Sophie, 331
- Amelia, 312
- Ella, 295
- Ava, 292
- Grace, 286
- Aria, 272
- Jessica, 262
Boy Names
- Jack, 422 baby boys
- Oliver, 330
- James, 323
- Logan, 307
- Leo, 300
- Lewis, 298
- Alexander, 294 (tie)
- Harris, 294 (tie)
- Noah, 284
- Rory, 280
In the girls’ top 10, Grace replaced Charlotte (now 11th).
In the boys’ top 10, Rory replaced Harry (now tied for 11th with Charlie).
Names inspired by Scottish islands include Arran (118 boys; ranked 47th), Iona (83 girls; ranked 56th), Ailsa (37 girls), Islay (11 girls), Coll (3 boys), Jura (3 girls), Gigha (1 girl), and Tiree (1 girl).
And here are some more baby names that, like Gigha and Tiree, were bestowed just once in Scotland last year:
| Unique Girl Names | Unique Boy Names |
|---|---|
| Adora-Belle, Brora, Callumina, Cardi, Clemency, Damily, Delarosa, Embla, Everlyn, Fintry, Frankie-Nirvana, Gigi, Honey-Bee, Iwinosa, Izna, Junu, Kindah, Lhotse, Milliemae, Niska, Omnia, Peculiar, Raffie, Swithy, Tiggy, Tophina, Uljana, Veia, Winry, Xanthippe, Yvie, Zuzu | Aurimas, Avrick, Baroque-Valentyne, Caisson, Camhanaich, Dome, Dune, Eck, Fitheach, Gighian, Haxton, Indio, Izzeldin, Jeddie, Junlin, Kafka, Lucifer, Monder, Neelix, Ouff, Panashe, Rattakorn, Reave, Stark, Svetozar, Thapish, Ual, Velyo, Wit, Xypher, Yogan, Zostera |
Possible explanations for some of the above:
- Cardi B, American rapper and singer
- Embla, the first woman (according to Norse mythology)
- Lhotse, the 4th-highest mountain in the world (means “south peak” in Tibetan)
- Winry, a manga character from the Fullmetal Alchemist
- Caisson, an ammunition chest or two-wheeled ammunition wagon (means “box” in French)
- Camhanaich, the Scottish word for “break of day” or “twilight”
- Fitheach, the Scottish word for “raven” (and also the title of a children’s adventure game show that premiered on the Scottish-language BBC Alba channel in 2018)
- Kafka, Czech writer Franz Kafka
- Neelix, a character from Star Trek: Voyager
- Zostera, a type of sea grass
In 2017, the top two names were the same.
Sources: Most popular names in Scotland, Babies’ First Names, From A to Zidane… unusual names of newborns revealed, 2018 baby names: Scots babies are Awesome and Adora-Belle
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)
