Scott

Scott (m) The surname Scott could hardly be more
Scottish from both an etymological and historical point of
view. However all the evidence indicates that its use as a Christian name began in the U.S.A. It was certainly far more popular there by 1950 than in Scotland itself, though Scottish parents later gave the name the warmest of welcomes.

Scott is in fact likely to become one of Scotland’s top names again. The name is also rapidly gaining ground in England and Wales. American usage was undoubtedly influenced by the writer Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), who was well-known from 1920 onwards. He was born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, and was of Irish rather than Scottish descent.

The Christian name derives directly from the surname (the 12th most frequent in Scotland in 1976), which means ‘a Scot.’ Some parents prefer to spell the name without the extra t, emphasising that it means what it says. The parents of one boy born in Scotland in 1958 went still further, interpreting Scot(t) as a pet form and bestowing on their son the Christian name Scotland.

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