A formal Gaelic language name consists of a given name and a surname. First names are either native or nativized (i.e. borrowed and made to fit the Gaelic sound system). Surnames are generally patronymic, i.e. they refer to a historical ancestor. The form of a surname varies according to whether its bearer is male (e.g. Mac Dhòmhnaill "MacDonald") or female (e.g. Nic Dhòmhnaill "MacDonald") though for some surnames the adjectival form of a name such as Dòmhnallach (adjectival form of MacDonald) can be used for both men and women. However, when used in the female form the first letter is aspirated (if possible).
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First names
Gaelic first names chiefly hail from 5 linguistic layers, Goidelic and 4 others, coinciding with the main languages of contact: Latin, Norse, Anglo-Norman and Scots. Unusually, male first names outnumber female first names by about a factor of 2:1.
Goidelic names
This layer can be broadly split into three main types:
The first two categories were no longer productive for the most part towards the end of the Old Irish period but the last type persisted, reinforced by the coinage of ecclesiastical names following Christianization.
Norse names
Quite a number of names still common hail from the period of Norse contact:
Anglo-Norman
Names from this layer include:
Scots
Scots names which have been borrowed into Gaelic include:
Latin
Names which were borrowed from Latin include:
Borrowing into English
A fair number of Gaelic names were borrowed into English at different periods (e.g. Kenneth, Duncan, Donald, Malcolm, Calum, Lachlan, Alasdair, Iain, Eilidh), although it can sometimes be difficult to tell if the donor language was Irish or Scottish Gaelic (e.g. Deirdre, Rory, Kennedy, Bridget/Bride, Aiden). On occasion, the same name was borrowed more than once due to misinterpretation of Gaelic morphology. For example, the names Hamish and Mhairi /vɑːri/ are derived from Gaelic Seumas ([ʃeːməs̪]) and Màiri ([maːɾʲɪ]) but rather than borrowing the root forms, the English forms are based on the Gaelic vocative case forms Sheumais ([heːmɪʃ] and Mhàiri ([vaːɾʲɪ]).
Some names which did not acquire currency outside the Gaelic-speaking world were roughly transliterated into English, such as Gorm(sh)uil which is often rendered as "Gormelia".
Others were with no cognate were often equated with English names which bore some similarity to the Gaelic name in order to obtain "English equivalents". This includes Oighrig which was equated with Euphemia, Dìorbhail with Dorothy, Beathag with Rebecca or Sophie.
Surnames
The majority of Gaelic surnames in the Highlands and western parts are patronymic in nature and of Goidelic extraction, although epithets, geography or occupation and borrowings also occur in some surnames. However, many surnames are derived from topographical features or place names, Such surnames include Caddenhead/Cionnchadach, Cadell/Cadalach, Cleghorne/Clagarnach, Dalzell/Dailghileach, Dalrimple/Ruimpealach, Elphin/Ailbhinneach, Inverbervie/Biorbhach, Kelty/Cailtidheach, Learmonth/Learmonadhach, Ochiltree/Ochailtreabhach and many more.
Caimbeul "crooked mouth" and Camshron "crooked nose" are two examples of surnames based on epithets, Frisealach is an example of a borrowing (from Anglo-French Fresel).
The usage of patronymic surnames was much more varied than is generally assumed. Historically, clan surnames were used by the descendants or dependants of an ancestor but not generally by everyone in the clan territory. Only with the advent of a non-Gaelic speaking administration were clan surnames applied en-masse to people in a clan's territory.
Formation
Patronymic surnames for men feature either the Mac (e.g. Mac Dhomhnaill) element or the nominalizing suffix -ach (e.g. Domhnallach). In the case of women, the element Nic is used (derived from nighean mhic "the daughter of the son of"). Various other morphological changes (such as lenition or slenderization) may apply in Gaelic, so the surname MacDonald for example may appear as Mac Dhomhnaill, Mhac Dhomhnaill, Mhic Dhomhnaill, Nic Dhomhnaill depending on the grammatical context.
As a result of misspellings, one Gaelic surname often corresponds to numerous English forms, e.g. Mac Dhonnchaidh "son of Duncan" may appear in English as: Donagh(y), Donnagh, Dono(u)gh, MacConachie, MacConachy, MacConaghy, MacConchy, MacConechie, MacConkey, MacConnachie, MacConnechie, MacConnichie, MacConochie, MacConoughy, MacDona, MacDonachie, MacDonachy, MacDonaghy, MacDonaugh, MacDonnach, MacDonnagh, MacDonnoghie, MacDonogh, MacDonoghue, MacDonough, MacDunphy, MacKonochie, MacOnachie, MacOnechy, MacOnochie, Donohue or Donohoe (ignoring the Mac/Mc variation).
Historically, there was always a gap between the Mac prefix and the following word in Scottish Gaelic. However, in recent times, some do not put a space and this has a background in trying to prove a difference between Scottish and Irish Gaelic. The prefix and the following word are two distinct words and therefore should be separated. Another unfortunate illiteration is the curtailing of the initial letter 'G' in 'gille' surnames. As such, a surname like Mac Gille Dhuibh (McIlduff) is rendered crudely as Mac 'Illedhuibh.