Scottish Placenames

There are no place names in Scotland that are Roman in origin. The people that occupied an area can not be definitively stated from a place name but trends can be established

There are a number of different languages that contribute to placenames. An area occupied by Brythonic (Old Welsh) speaking people may have place names associated with that language. “Aber” meaning river mouth is found across the east of Scotland. An area occupied by Scottish Gaelic-speaking people will adopt these placer names – “Inver” meaning mouth of a river. Then the Vikings came and northwestern Scotland has an abundance of Norse place names. The Normans added their language and finally English. When maps were produced the word written down is what the person thought they heard adding further confusion. Transcription errors in old documents contribute to confusion. Invading forces may also adapt a native word for an area into their own language

Notable geographic words and their origins.

Word	Meaning	Language	Examples
Aber	mouth of	Brythonic	Aberdeen, Aberlady, Aberfeldy, Aberlour
Caer	fort	Brythonic	Cramond (Cair Almond)
Dale	valley	Norse	Helmsdale
Dun	fort	Gaelic	Dundee, Dumbarton, Dunkeld
Inver	mouth of	Gaelic	Inverness, Invergordon
Kil	Church	Gaelic	Kilmarnock, Kilwinning
Vik	bay	Norse	Lerwick, Wick

References

• The Welsh Origins of place names in Britain Ordnance Survey
• The Gaelic Origins of place names in Britain Ordnance Survey
• key to English Place Names the University of Nottingham (filter by language such as “Celtic”)
• Scots and Picts – BBC
• Understanding Scottish Places -The Understanding Scottish Places platform was commissioned by the Scottish Government and was launched in April 2015.
• The Origins of English Place Names English Heritage