Re: Scottish emigrant names help
in reply to a message by Lora
I think that the custom of turning surnames such as Kirk into given names is more widespread in Scotland itself than it would be in Ireland.
I would bet that people with Scottish ancestry in the USA are more likely to give children names that they think are romantically linked to Scotland than other parents are. I think that Heather, Wallace, and Arran might be names with Scottish connections in this way.
Skye seems to have first been used as a girls' name for a particular fictional character, the title character of the 1957 novel Skye Cameron by the American author Phyllis A. Whitney:
http://www.phyllisawhitney.com/Skye%20Cameron.htm
In the novel the character is said to have been given the name because her father was born on the isle of Skye, but whether any non-fictional Skye has received the name because of a similar connection is unknown. :)
I would bet that people with Scottish ancestry in the USA are more likely to give children names that they think are romantically linked to Scotland than other parents are. I think that Heather, Wallace, and Arran might be names with Scottish connections in this way.
Skye seems to have first been used as a girls' name for a particular fictional character, the title character of the 1957 novel Skye Cameron by the American author Phyllis A. Whitney:
http://www.phyllisawhitney.com/Skye%20Cameron.htm
In the novel the character is said to have been given the name because her father was born on the isle of Skye, but whether any non-fictional Skye has received the name because of a similar connection is unknown. :)
Replies
Ok thank you, I'd need to do some more research then on 'romantic' names like Heather, but not sure if I'll have time :( it would be interesting though.