Written by William Anderson in 1865, to this day, this is still an invaluable
study of Scottish names and their origins, and as such it surveys an
astonishingly broad array of names and how they came about.
In earlier days, of course, one was known locally by one's characteristics,
but increasingly with urbanization, family names began to emerge and to be
applied to all members of a family, regardless of personal characteristics,
occupation, or abilities.
This study begins with the original significance of names and continues with
chapters on personal names; names derived from striking peculiarities; names
from color and complexion; from animals; from weapons and insignia of war; from
trade, offices and occupations; genitive names and diminutives; surnames derived
from trees, plants, waters and rivers; from countries, towns and lands; and then
a final chapter on surnames from sources other than these. The whole book is an
amazing compendium of names, their origins, and their meaning in Scotland.
High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book. This CD has
been bookmarked for easy navigation, and pages can be browsed, enlarged and
printed out if required. Please note it is not searchable.
