Jul 4, 2025
One of the main villains of Arthurian Legend is Bruce.
Think about it.
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One of the main villains of Arthurian Legend is Bruce.
Think about it.
Do you know any androgynous names of Irish or Scottish origin. Maybe with a dark fae like vibe.
Sure thing!
Asthore
Sadhbh
Finlay
Dubhghall
Blair
Rónán
Rant
Actually in light of the many delights of sixteenth century women’s names in Scotland, that just makes me even more annoyed about Reign. I mean OF COURSE nobody was expecting accuracy from it and it’s supposed to be a bit of fun (and actually I think it has aged well compared to other series which CLAIMED accuracy but never achieved it, cough cough the White Princess). But I still get a bit annoyed with the names they came up with for the Four Maries, because not only do I love historical names (and Scotland had some odd ones) but it was a very very weird decision on behalf of the writers.
First of all in my personal (and therefore subjective) experience the concept of the Four Marys is one of the most memorable things about Mary Queen of Scots (other than, you know, the fact that she got her head chopped off). And they all have very different faces, so I think the audience were capable of telling them apart- and even if they weren’t you could have given them variants (one could be Marie, one Marion, e.t.c.).
Secondly though the alternative names are horrendous? I don’t want to insult anyone who might have these names (my own name is not particularly nice either) but honestly they just make me want to vomit a bit. Each to their own, if people like them that’s fine but they did seem quite lazy choices too. Sixteenth century names are no picnic (lots of old lady vibes) but they are BEAUTIFUL compared to Greer.
So because I apparently don’t have anything better to do (a lie, I was working on a project which is how I got onto the topic of baby names in the first place) I have decided to waste my evening thinking up some alternative suggestions which sixteenth century Scottish parents might have chosen for their daughter instead of Mary. I have tried to keep the sound and vibe of the names they chose for the show instead, so that actually rules out the more common names like Mary and Janet but hey at least that makes things exciting.
First up is Aylee. Which, though that is not AT ALL how you spell Eilidh, they get points for trying to make something sound plausibly Scottish? I think? I mean there’s every possibility that they just plucked the name out of a hat and weren’t thinking of Scotland at all.
Eilidh is a beautiful name from the Gàidhlig which is very common in Scotland now (and when I was at school it always really confused teachers from England when they were trying to call the register). But as far as I’m aware wasn’t much used in the sixteenth century (though a lot of records about Gàidhlig speakers often Anglicise their names- Aoife to Eva, for example). And if it was, it certainly wasn’t popular in the Lowlands where the Four Marys came from (Fife/Lothian/Stirlingshire/Lanarkshire- loosely of course). So what could you use instead, if you were a sixteenth century mother who had wanted to call her daughter Mary but, idk, wasn’t all that keen on the Virgin the week she was born?
Well Helen or Ellen or even Helenor might work. Derivatives of the name Eleanor are not a direct equivalent of Eilidh but Helen is about as close as you’re going to get for the mid-sixteenth century among the Lowland aristocracy. And although its a bit of an old lady name now it was very popular in Scotland from the sixteenth to the 20th centuries and has the fortunate associations with the beautiful Helen of Troy and with St Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. Alison is another possibility if you want something with the ‘Al/El/Ayl’ sort of noise- yes Alison is both a first name AND a surname in this period, bizarrely. You could also go with Elspeth which was a very common variant of Elizabeth- you tend to see Elspeth more in 17th and 18th century Scotland but I think it was used in the 16th century too, just that Elizabeth tended to be written in the official record.
One consideration though is that I believe Aylee is meant to be the Mary Seton of the gang. Which means the writers of Reign didn’t actually have to stick to Scottish names because the historical Mary Seton’s mother was Marie Pieris, a French lady-in-waiting who came over with Marie de Guise. So they had the whole wonderful, elegant world of French baby names to play with! Alas, what could have been...
Next up is Kenna which... again points to them for trying to vaguely sound Scottish (albeit in the most American way possible) but Kenna will always remind me of men called Kenneth, which is, I’m sorry, not a sexy name. And to be honest I don’t even know what to do with this one. I mean if you want a name starting with a K you could always use Katherine? Not as common a name in Scotland as it was in England but still knocking around and frequently shortened to Kate or Katie, it might work? Otherwise I have no idea what to do with this one. Just call her Agnes and be done with it- it was Mary Livingston’s mother’s name and could be stretched into Anna if you tried, which almost (i.e. not at all) rhymes with Kenna. What does it matter. I don’t even care anymore, and neither, I think, did the Reign writers.
Third we have Lola. Which is the only one of these four names I have ever heard used in real life so that’s a bonus! And probably the only bonus to be honest (do NOT get me started on the particular brand of upper-middle class English women who labour their daughters with this name, which in itself is not so bad, but pronounced in the patronising, long-vowelled tones of a Waitrose mother calling to her Little Dahling, it gets on my nerves).
Luckily though this is a name for which I can think of a good alternative immediately- Lilias.
Yes once again it’s an old lady kind of a name now but I PROMISE you, in the sixteenth century all the hot young Scotswomen chasing fairy lovers/dancing with the devil/defending their border castles against the English were called shit like Lilias and Janet and Isobel and Barbara and, idk, sodding Beatrix. The historical Lola Mary Fleming’s mother was called Janet and she STILL managed to attract the attention of the King of France and acquire the nickname la Belle Écossaise when she was in her forties and had given birth to eight children.
Old-fashioned names ought not to hold Young Ladies of Character back in the world, and anyway you know what? Eventually the Lolas of this world will be 80 one day as well (and I’m not saying you can’t be a hot bad-ass when you’re 80 too, but that’s off topic). Lilias fortunately preserves the liquid double ‘L’ noise of Lola and has a nice meaning too.
And so lastly we come to the greatest abomination of the lot - Greer. I mean... I’m apologising for using ‘old lady’ names but honestly the Reign writers should be forced to do penance for inflicting this one on any character. It is the baby name equivalent of a block of granite, but less sparkly. Personally, I am also biased against it because I have a pet hate of surnames used as first names, ESPECIALLY Scottish surnames (and I’m not just talking modern ones like Mackenzie, I fully include the much more common and even traditional ones like Gordon and Douglas in this). But at least Greer Garson’s name was a nod to her mother’s surname which wasn’t really an option for this Mary Beaton stand-in- I’m not sure that the even the Reign writers would call a character Renwall. Either way Greer does itself absolutely no favours.
HOWEVER. I will cooperate. I will do my best to find you a hard, slightly ugly but also kind of quirky and cool name from sixteenth century Scotland that starts with a hard G. And funnily enough it’s even easier than Lola was because we have two, quite common nicknames that would do instead.
Margaret was one of, if not THE, most popular baby name for centuries in Scotland (except perhaps Mary) and among its many variants, a particularly popular one in the sixteenth century was Grizel, sometimes affectionately shortened further to Grizzy (though I have only seen this in the 18th century). Sometimes (like with Mary and Marion) you even get two daughters in the same family, one named Margaret and one named Grizel. I will admit, though this name summons up grisly images (haha), I have a soft spot for it so I think it could work, especially if you place all the emphasis on the second syllable.
The other alternative is Geillis. Which I *think* might be a nickname for people named Egidia from what I can tell? I’m not 100% on that one but both Geillis and Egidia crop up now and again in Scottish history from the twelfth century until at least the eighteenth. Not a name I would revive for any of the children I won’t be having but hey, you all liked it when Outlander nicked it off a historical woman persecuted during the North Berwick witch trials. And sorry, it just has to be better than Greer. Even Kentigerna and Triduana (names that the Scottish nobility unfortunately had access to but, mercifully, I have never yet seen used) is better than Greer. Even Lady Douglas Sheffield (though that one is England’s responsibility) had a better name than Greer. Even Ephesia is better than Greer.
I mean alternatively the writers could have saved themselves time and just done what 60% of the Scottish nobility did when faced with a clutch of daughters and just called them Margaret, Janet, Agnes, and Isobel, with Marion, Elizabeth, Helen, Christian, and Jean/Jane/Joan kept in reserve. But that would require them to use Wikipedia for all of three seconds and I think that might have been beyond them.
Hello! Could I get some androgynous/unisex scottish names? my deadname is scottish (because my dad is), and I really want to keep that aspect. Thank you so much!!!
of course! im happy to give you what we've found!
COLIN (coll-in) - scottish | pup | male
from scottish, irish and greek origin. can be pronounced coll-in or cole-in. notable people/characters with this name: colin ford, colin firth, colin o'donoghue and colin creevey (harry potter).
Names that, according to authors of “historical” Scottish romance novels, are traditional, historic Scottish names for people –
Ilysa
Murine
Dageus
Fagan
Elyne
Coira O’Donnell
Meriel
Sir Jacques Dragonet
Grim
Breena
Carissa
Laird Kirkwall Gunn
Taliesan
Gavyn
Dirk!
Roses (not a typo)
Annora
Leonce
Morainn
Bryce
Fallon
Balfour
Maldie Kirkaldy
Avery (for a woman)
Adlin
Tarr of Hellewyke
Flanna the Flame
Jolene
Artan
Broen
Averill
Kade
Gillyanne
Symon
Cody MacBain
Shay Logan
Akira (in 1502)
Dougald
Heming
Brielle
Gavynn
Ceana
Marea
Chase
Broe
Alysandir
Curan
Colum
Marcail
Leam
Nairna
Laren
Adelstan Cawdor
Latharn
Tamlyn
Payton Dunn-Fadden
✧･*ﾟscottish female names
→ link to my scottish male name masterlist → link to my scottish surnames masterlist
under the cut are a mixture of 260 traditional, modern and uncommon scottish female names. this masterlist was created for all in one breath rp, but feel free to link on your own sites! names are listed in alphabetical order. as always, it's a good idea to google pronunciations (some of them might surprise you!). my favourites are in bold, just because. please like♡ or reblog if you found this useful.
Blair
This gorgeous Scottish Gaelic name means 'field' or 'flat plain' and originates from the word blàr.
There are many places that have Blair in their name, and it is also a surname. It is well known for being the name of a character in Gossip Girl; and also for it's unfortunate association with the Blair Witch Project.
I like Blair, to me it sounds cute, preppy, confident and like someone with a raging sense of humor.