This page provides some figures on the relative frequency of different given names among Scots. These figures demonstrate how few names were in common use. They also give some idea of how the frequency of names differed from county to county.
Some information about Scottish surnames is here.
The information below is based on the 1881 census of Scotland. Southern Scotland here means the 13 counties of AYR, BEW, DFS, ELN, KKD, LKS, MLN, PEE, RFW, ROX, SEL, WLN, WIG.
1. Names of inhabitants of southern Scotland, wherever born
Total number of males = 1,027,000
| Rank | Percentage | Name | Cumulative percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17.8 | John | 17.8 |
| 2 | 15.0 | James | 32.8 |
| 3 | 13.4 | William | 46.2 |
| 4 | 7.8 | Robert | 53.9 |
| 5 | 6.4 | Thomas | 60.3 |
| 6 | 5.2 | Alexander | 65.5 |
| 7 | 4.3 | George | 69.8 |
| 8 | 3.7 | David | 73.5 |
| 9 | 2.7 | Andrew | 76.2 |
| 10 | 2.0 | Peter | 78.2 |
| 11 | 1.9 | Hugh | 80.1 |
| 12 | 1.7 | Charles | 81.8 |
| 13 | 1.4 | Patrick [1] | 83.1 |
| 14 | 1.3 | Archibald | 84.5 |
| 15 | 1.2 | Joseph | 85.7 |
| 16 | 1.2 | Henry | 86.9 |
| 17 | 1.0 | Samuel | 87.9 |
| 18 | 0.9 | Daniel [2] | 88.8 |
| 19 | 0.9 | Francis | 89.7 |
| 20 | 0.9 | Edward | 90.5 |
| 21 | 0.7 | Walter | 91.3 |
| 22 | 0.7 | Michael [1] | 92.0 |
| 23 | 0.7 | Matthew | 92.6 |
| 24 | 0.6 | Adam | 93.2 |
| 25 | 0.6 | Donald [2] | 93.8 |
| 26 | 0.6 | Richard | 94.4 |
| 27 | 0.5 | Duncan | 94.9 |
| 28 | 0.3 | Arthur [3] | 95.2 |
| 29 | 0.3 | Neil | 95.5 |
| 30 | 0.3 | Allan | 95.8 |
[1] 'Donald' & 'Daniel' were probably regarded as being the same name in many cases.
[2] 'Patrick' and 'Michael' are almost exclusively Irish immigrants.
[3] 'Arthur' is extremely rare before about 1850.
Total number of females = 1,049,000
| Rank | Percentage | Name | Cumulative percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14.5 | Mary | 14.5 |
| 2 | 12.9 | Margaret | 27.5 |
| 3 | 10.1 | Elizabeth | 37.6 |
| 4 | 9.1 | Jean | 46.6 |
| 5 | 8.7 | Janet | 55.4 |
| 6 | 6.4 | Agnes | 61.8 |
| 7 | 6.4 | Ann | 68.1 |
| 8 | 4.7 | Isabella | 72.9 |
| 9 | 4.7 | Helen | 77.5 |
| 10 | 4.6 | Catherine | 82.1 |
| 11 | 2.4 | Sarah | 84.5 |
| 12 | 2.1 | Christian | 86.6 |
| 13 | 1.7 | Marion | 88.3 |
| 14 | 0.9 | Susan | 89.2 |
| 15 | 0.9 | Martha | 90.0 |
| 16 | 0.8 | Grace | 90.8 |
| 17 | 0.7 | Barbara | 91.5 |
| 18 | 0.7 | Bridget [1] | 92.1 |
| 19 | 0.6 | Euphemia | 92.8 |
| 20 | 0.4 | Jo(h)an(na) | 93.2 |
[1] Irish immigrants
2. Names of males born in a given county of southern Scotland but living anywhere in southern Scotland
| Rank | AYR | BEW | DFS | ELN | KKD | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % |
| 1 | John | 18.8 | John | 16.5 | John | 18.9 | John | 16.1 | John | 19.5 |
| 2 | James | 16.2 | James | 14.8 | James | 16.7 | James | 14.8 | James | 17.6 |
| 3 | William | 14.5 | William | 14.4 | William | 16.3 | William | 12.9 | William | 16.6 |
| 4 | Robert | 9.5 | Robert | 9.9 | Robert | 9.1 | Robert | 8.7 | Robert | 10.5 |
| 5 | Thomas | 6.1 | George | 9.0 | Thomas | 8.5 | George | 8.4 | Thomas | 6.6 |
| 6 | David | 4.9 | Thomas | 7.8 | George | 5.0 | Thomas | 7.6 | Alexander & David | 4.7 |
| 7 | Alexander | 4.9 | Alexander | 6.4 | David | 4.8 | Alexander | 6.6 | - | - |
| 8 | Hugh | 4.3 | Andrew | 3.8 | Andrew | 2.8 | David | 4.6 | Samuel | 3.4 |
| 9 | Andrew | 3.5 | David | 3.6 | Alexander | 2.5 | Peter | 4.0 | George | 3.1 |
| 10 | George | 3.1 | Peter | 3.2 | Joseph | 2.2 | Andrew | 3.3 | Andrew | 2.0 |
| Rank | LKS | MLN | PEE | RFW | ROX | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % |
| 1 | John | 18.4 | John | 16.9 | John | 18.2 | John | 18.7 | John | 16.4 |
| 2 | James | 15.8 | James | 15.0 | James | 17.1 | James | 15.4 | William | 15.0 |
| 3 | William | 13.7 | William | 13.6 | William | 15.1 | William | 13.3 | James | 14.4 |
| 4 | Robert | 8.3 | Robert | 7.9 | Robert | 10.2 | Robert | 9.1 | Robert | 9.9 |
| 5 | Thomas | 6.5 | Thomas | 6.9 | Thomas | 8.2 | Alexander | 5.6 | Thomas | 9.3 |
| 6 | Alexander | 5.3 | Alexander | 6.6 | Alexander | 6.7 | Thomas | 5.4 | George | 7.4 |
| 7 | George | 3.8 | George | 6.4 | George | 5.0 | David | 3.4 | Andrew | 4.9 |
| 8 | David | 3.6 | David | 4.9 | Andrew | 3.1 | George | 3.1 | Alexander | 3.7 |
| 9 | Andrew | 2.8 | Andrew | 3.0 | David | 3.1 | Andrew | 2.6 | Walter | 3.6 |
| 10 | Peter | 1.9 | Peter | 2.4 | Adam | 2.1 | Hugh | 2.3 | Adam | 2.5 |
| Rank | SEL | WLN | WIG | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Name | % | Name | % | Name | % |
| 1 | John | 16.6 | John | 18.1 | John | 18.7 |
| 2 | James | 15.0 | James | 15.7 | James | 16.5 |
| 3 | William | 14.0 | William | 13.5 | William | 16.1 |
| 4 | Robert | 9.6 | Robert | 8.4 | Robert | 8.1 |
| 5 | Thomas | 9.5 | Thomas | 7.5 | Alexander | 7.2 |
| 6 | George | 6.7 | Alexander | 7.2 | Thomas | 6.0 |
| 7 | Andrew | 5.4 | George | 4.9 | David | 4.1 |
| 8 | Alexander | 4.3 | David | 4.3 | Andrew | 3.9 |
| 9 | Walter | 3.7 | Andrew | 3.1 | Peter | 3.4 |
| 10 | Adam | 2.5 | Peter | 2.6 | Hugh | 2.7 |
3. Percentages of males with any given name born in, and living in, a given county, by age
The years in the headings are the years of birth, according to the 1881 census. Allowing for the small number of males in the earlier years, there is little perceptible change in the distribution of names over 50 years.
(a) Roxburghshire
In Roxburghshire, the 20 names listed below account for about 97% of the male population in each age group, as shown in the 2nd last row of the table.
| Name | 1807-11 | 1817-21 | 1827-31 | 1837-41 | 1847-51 | 1857-61 | 1867-71 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | 19.7 | 16.5 | 20.0 | 15.9 | 18.4 | 15.9 | 17.5 |
| William | 15.3 | 15.6 | 15.0 | 15.3 | 12.2 | 14.8 | 14.9 |
| James | 16.4 | 15.1 | 14.3 | 16.9 | 14.2 | 13.9 | 13.0 |
| Robert | 6.6 | 9.9 | 7.8 | 9.2 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 9.9 |
| Thomas | 7.1 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 8.6 | 11.2 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| George | 10.9 | 9.3 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 7.7 |
| Andrew | 6.0 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Walter | 2.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| Alexander | 3.8 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| Adam | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| David | 0.0 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 |
| Peter | 0.0 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Charles | 0.0 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Henry | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Archibald | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Francis | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Richard | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| Joseph | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Edward | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Samuel | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Total % of above names | 95.5 | 97.4 | 97.1 | 97.2 | 97.4 | 96.2 | 95.9 |
| Total male population | 183 | 443 | 525 | 673 | 877 | 1342 | 2202 |
(b) Morayshire
Note the high frequency of 'Alexander'
| Name | 1807-11 | 1817-21 | 1827-31 | 1837-41 | 1847-51 | 1857-61 | 1867-71 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | 20.1 | 22.4 | 21.6 | 19.9 | 19.0 | 17.3 | 17.7 |
| James | 16.4 | 17.8 | 18.0 | 18.0 | 18.6 | 17.5 | 14.4 |
| William | 15.0 | 17.3 | 17.3 | 18.4 | 12.9 | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Alexander | 17.3 | 16.8 | 17.0 | 13.7 | 14.7 | 14.4 | 13.4 |
| George | 8.9 | 6.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 7.4 |
| Robert | 6.1 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 4.7 | 5.8 |
| David | 2.8 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 2.6 |
| Peter | 0.9 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Donald* | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Charles | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.0 |
| Thomas | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| Andrew | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Joseph | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Daniel* | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| Hugh | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Duncan | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| Francis | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 |
| Lewis | 0.0 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Archibald | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Total % of above names | 96.9 | 97.8 | 97.6 | 97.9 | 96.6 | 95.4 | 94.7 |
| Total male population | 214 | 410 | 440 | 488 | 559 | 1165 | 2035 |
* 'Donald' & 'Daniel' were probably regarded as being the same name in many cases.
(c) Kincardineshire
| Name | 1807-11 | 1817-21 | 1827-31 | 1837-41 | 1847-51 | 1857-61 | 1867-71 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James | 21.7 | 13.6 | 16.7 | 18.8 | 20.0 | 18.1 | 17.8 |
| William | 11.8 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 16.1 | 17.7 | 15.8 | 18.3 |
| John | 15.8 | 19.6 | 16.9 | 14.8 | 13.1 | 14.6 | 14.5 |
| Alexander | 10.8 | 11.7 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 11.6 | 11.4 | 11.0 |
| George | 8.4 | 10.1 | 9.1 | 10.4 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| David | 7.9 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 9.7 | 7.4 |
| Robert | 7.9 | 9.5 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 5.8 |
| Andrew | 3.9 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| Charles | 4.4 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
| Joseph | 0.5 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Thomas | 2.5 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.8 |
| Peter | 0.5 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Hugh | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Francis | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Total % of above names | 96.6 | 96.6 | 96.8 | 98.1 | 96.7 | 96.2 | 94.9 |
| Total male population | 203 | 317 | 372 | 473 | 525 | 835 | 1585 |
(d) Stewartry of Kirkcudbright
Note the high frequency of 'Samuel'
| Name | 1807-11 | 1817-21 | 1827-31 | 1837-41 | 1847-51 | 1857-61 | 1867-71 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | xxx | 23.1 | 22.8 | 21.4 | 22.8 | 20.7 | 17.0 |
| James | xxx | 17.8 | 16.1 | 17.3 | 17.2 | 14.6 | 16.8 |
| William | xxx | 17.2 | 19.4 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 17.8 | 17.1 |
| Robert | xxx | 11.1 | 9.7 | 12.4 | 10.3 | 11.4 | 10.3 |
| Thomas | xxx | 4.3 | 4.6 | 8.0 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 6.5 |
| David | xxx | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| Alexander | xxx | 7.1 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Samuel | xxx | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.7 |
| George | xxx | 1.5 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.9 |
| Andrew | xxx | 0.0 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.2 |
| Joseph | xxx | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Peter | xxx | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Charles | xxx | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Hugh | xxx | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Adam | xxx | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| Henry | xxx | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Walter | xxx | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Matthew | xxx | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Francis | xxx | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Richard | xxx | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Anthony | xxx | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Edward | xxx | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Archibald | xxx | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Total % of above names | xxx | 98.0 | 99.2 | 97.8 | 97.8 | 97.9 | 96.2 |
| Total male population | xxx | 325 | 372 | 548 | 545 | 1046 | 1782 |
4. Percentages of females with any given name born in, and living in, East Lothian, by age
The years in the headings are the years of birth, according to the 1881 census.
'Mary Ann' is included in 'Mary', rather than 'Marion', somewhat arbitrarily. 'Jean' includes the newer spelling 'Jane'. 'Christian' includes the later spelling 'Christina'. 'Janet' includes its pet-form, 'Jessie'. 'Bessie', 'Betsy', 'Betty' are included under 'Elizabeth', though in some cases they are probably forms of 'Beatrice'. Elsewhere in Scottish records, the names 'Ann' and 'Agnes' are frequently confused, so this is probably also the case in the 1881 census.
| Name | 1800-10 | 1815-25 | 1835-45 | 1855-65 | 1870-80 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret | 14.3 | 13.0 | 11.8 | 12.5 | 12.1 |
| Janet | 10.7 | 11.1 | 10.4 | 8.6 | 8.9 |
| Mary | 8.7 | 10.3 | 8.6 | 11.6 | 10.5 |
| Elizabeth | 9.9 | 7.8 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 8.5 |
| Jean | 8.7 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 6.8 |
| Isabella | 6.3 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 6.5 |
| Agnes | 6.6 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 6.9 |
| Helen | 7.5 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 6.0 |
| Ann | 4.5 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 5.1 |
| Catherine | 3.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 4.6 |
| Marion | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Christian | 4.2 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Alison | 1.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| Euphemia | 2.4 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
| Jo(h)an(na) | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Martha | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Susan | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Barbara | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Jemima | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Sarah | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Beatrice | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Lillias | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Total % of above names | 92.5 | 96.7 | 96.6 | 93.8 | 92.2 |
| Total female population | 335 | 784 | 1284 | 2416 | 4276 |