Gaelic Awareness

Listen to this page for pronunciation of Gaelic words.

Gaelic Surnames

Historically Gaelic surnames in the English sense were not generally used, at least in colloquial Gaelic, except when speaking of strangers.

Everyone living in a Gaelic speaking district had a local name describing his/her trade and/or occupation or some physical peculiarity, as in Calum Mór, an sgeulaiche (Big Malcolm, The Storyteller).

Sometimes people were named after the place they lived in last or born in as in Eòs Siùdaig (Joe Judique).

If the person named is of a family long settled in a district he/she will probably be named after his/her father or grandfather, i.e. Seumas Mac Aonghuis ’ic Iain ’ic Uilleim ’ic Mhurchaidh (James, son of Angus, son of John, son of William, son of Murdock) or Oighrig Nighean Shandi Choinnich (Effie, daughter of Sandy Kenneth)

Where a person’s mother was a native of the area married to an outsider, a son may be called after her, i.e. Dòmhnull Ciorstan (Kirsten’s Donald).

The sole object of Gaelic surnames was to make the identity of the person spoken of as clear as possible through the speaker reminding his/her listeners by means of his/her name every time it is mentioned, to whom or "where" he/she belongs.

Note that Donald Black in Gaelic is Dòmhnull Mac Gille Dhuibh (Donald, Son of the Dark Haired Servant). The literal translation, Dòmhnull Dubh (Dark-haired Donald), may, if used, prove misleading, for that is much more likely to be the local way of referring to someone named Donald Cameron or Donald Smith, both of whom may have dark hair.

As referenced previous, to make identification easier for someone named Donald Black, the Gaelic language deals with this by connecting the individual back to the father and/or grandfather, i.e. Dòmhnuill Iain Ghilleasbuig (Donald, son of John, son of Archibald).

The following list of surnames is the result of collections done in Scotland by internationally renowned Gaelic scholar Edward Dwelly from available sources from 1880 to 1911.

Most, if not all of these surnames are found in Nova Scotia, brought by Gaelic speaking settlers from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Accompanying notes have been provided where possible to indicate possible origins of names.

Notes are not provided for more obvious surnames, i.e. MacMichael - Mac/Nic Mhìcheil which means "son/daughter of Michael".

The names below with very few revisions or additions are how Dwelly presents them in his Faclair Gàidhlig Gu Beurla Le Dealbhan (Dwelly’s Illustrated Gaelic To English Dictionary) and as he himself writes, "is an attempt to gather [Gaelic surnames] into one alphabetical list from all the newspapers, magazines, books, etc." at the time.

Listen to the English/Gaelic pronunciation of surnames

*likely a French or low-country surname introduced through trade and commercial contact in the early middle ages

Dwelly uses the spelling "m a c" in this list, however it is also commonly seen spelled as "m c" and both convey the same meaning when found in a surname, "son of".

For Gaelic surnames beginning with "mac", the word "mac" is changed to "nic" to create the female form, i.e. Mac Dhòmhnuill becomes Nic Dhòmhnuill, thus Catrìona Nic Dhòmhnuill (Catherine MacDonald).

Additionally, a female form of a surname, in surnames not containing "mac", is created by adding an ‘h’ after the first consonant except 'l, n, r', i.e. Peatan becomes Pheatan. Thus Mairead Pheatan (Margaret Beaton).

Gaelic Placenames in Nova Scotia

The Gaels brought their language and culture to Nova Scotia in the late 1700s. They built homes and gave their communities Gaelic names. In 2006, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal established a policy, allowing districts where Gaelic language was initially spoken to erect bilingual signage in English and Gaelic.

Place names on bilingual road signs can be challenging to read without some knowledge of Gaelic. Learning accurate pronunciation is much easier if you can hear an experienced Gaelic speaker.

You can now listen to the sound of all the Nova Scotian place names listed here. Click on the name to hear how these names are pronounced. The map is included to show the regions where these places are found.

PICTOU COUNTY - SIORRAMACHD PHIOGTO

ANTIGONISH COUNTY - SIORRAMACHD ANTAIGINIS

GUYSBOROUGH COUNTY - SIORRAMACHD A´ MHAINISDEIR

INVERNESS COUNTY - SIORRAMACHD INBHIR NIS

VICTORIA COUNTY - SIORRAMACHD BHIOCTORIA

CAPE BRETON REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY - ROINN BHEAG IONADAIL CHEAP BREATAINN

RICHMOND COUNTY - SIORRAMACHD RICHMOND

Gaelic Proverbs / Seanfhacail

Proverbs hold a special place in world languages. The same is true of Gaelic language in Nova Scotia. Included in this section are proverbs with English equivalents that represent a rich part of Gaelic speech. Proverbs presented here are found in Féis an Eilein’s 2007 Mìosachan (Gaelic calendar) and are based on A Collection of Gaelic Proverbs and familiar phrases based upon MacIntosh’s Collection, Edinburgh 1882, edited by Alexander Carmichael. Gaelic proofing for the 2007 calendar was done by Goiridh Dòmhnullach and Seumus Watson. Sound files for each proverb are provided for reference.

Listen to the Gaelic pronunciation of proverbs

Proverbs With Translations

The first story from the host, and tales till morning from the guest — A’ chiad sgeul air fear an taighe ’s gach sgeul gu lath’ air an aoidh
He that is obstinate will often meet his match — A’ fear a ni dìorras, is iomadh a ni dìorras ris
The cross between me and mishap — Croisean sgiorradh
The little bannock with a blessing is better than the big one with a curse — Is fhèarr am bonnach beag leis a’ bheannachd, na ’m bonnach mór leis a’ mhollachd
The twist of the mother is natural to the daughter — An car a bhios ’s a’ mhàthair, ’s gnà leis a bhi ’s an nighinn
Green are the hills that are far from us — Is gorm na cnuic ’tha fada ’uainn
Who keeps his tongue will keep his friend — A’ fear a ghléidheas a theanga, gléidhidh e ’charaid
To him that farthest went away the sweetest music he ever heard was ‘come home’ — A’ fear a’s fhaide, ’chaidh o ’n taigh, ’s e ’n ceòl ’bu bhinne chual’ e ’riamh ‘tuigainn dachaidh’
Little by little as the cat ate the herring — A lìon beagan ’us beagan, mar a dh’ ith an cat a’ sgadan
The descendants of the Gael shoulder to shoulder — Clanna nan Gàidheal ’an guaillibh a chéile
Remember those from whom you came — Cuimhnich air na daoine bho ’n d’ thàinig thu
No door ever shut but another opened — Cha do dhùin dorust, nach d’ fhosgail dorust