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Place names
Many Scottish place names have their roots in either the Gaelic, Pictish, or Norse language. Here are some examples.
Gaelic
Many Scottish place names have their origins in the Gaelic language. Some are:-
聭滨苍惫别谤聮 meaning meeting of the waters. Examples of these are Inverness and Inverkip.
聭罢颈驳丑聮 meaning house. Examples are Tighnabruaich and Tyndrum.
聭顿耻苍聮 meaning fortress or castle. Examples are Dundee and Dunkeld.
聭颁颈濒濒聮 meaning chapel or church. Examples are Kildonan, Kilconquhar, Kilkenneth.
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Pictish
Many Scottish place names have their origins in Pictish times.
Some are:-
聭Pett聮 (pit) meaning portion or share. Examples are Pittenweem and Pitlochry (Some include people聮s names eg Pitcarmick, Pitewan, Pitcalman or their job eg Pitskelly which means the storyteller聮s share or place).
聭颁补谤诲别苍聮 meaning thicket. Examples of this are Kincardine and Urquhart.
聭础产别谤聮 meaning river mouth. Examples are Aberdeen and Aberdour.
Norse
There are many Scottish place names which have Norse origins. Norse names are mostly found round the coast as the Norse arrived by boat and stuck mostly to coastal regions. Some are:-
聭dalr聮 (-dale) meaning valley. Examples are Brosdale, Helmsdale, and Laxdale (2 norse words together!)
聭尝补虫聮 meaning salmon. Examples are Laxay and Laxdale, both are villages in Lewis.
聭Vik聮 (wick) meaning a bay. Examples of this would be Wick , Lerwick and Uig.
聭蹿箩辞谤诲聮 meaning sea- loch. Examples are Gruinart, Snizort , Collafirth , Seaforth.
Find out what the meaning of your town or village聮s name. Then email us with the meaning and we will post it in the My Town Your Town section of the site.
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