National Records of Scotland

The National Records of Scotland (NRS; Scottish Gaelic: Clàran Nàiseanta na h-Alba) was formed in 2011 through the merger of the General Register Office for Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland. It is the body responsible for civil registration of all life events in Scotland, including births — and therefore the official registration of personal names. Civil registration in Scotland began in 1855, earlier than in many other parts of the UK, and the 1855 registers are notably detailed, including information about parents' birthplaces and ages.

Naming Rules at Registration

Scottish law gives parents wide latitude in choosing a child's name at registration. There is no statutory list of approved names, unlike in some European countries. The Registrar General for Scotland can decline to register names that are considered offensive or contrary to public interest, but this power is rarely exercised. Names must be registerable in characters that can be recorded in the official system; this has historically created some tension with Scottish Gaelic names that use grave accents (e.g., Ràgnhildr) or names in non-Latin scripts. Scottish Gaelic names are fully accepted and are recorded with their correct diacritics where the registration system supports them.

Historical Records and Genealogy

The NRS holds Scotland's Old Parish Registers (OPRs) dating back in some cases to the sixteenth century, the census records from 1841 to 1921, and all civil registers from 1855. These records are publicly searchable through ScotlandsPeople, the official government genealogy portal. The NRS also maintains the Scottish Register of Tartans and holds responsibility for the Scotland's Census programme. For anyone researching Scottish family history — and therefore the history of Scottish names — the NRS and its ScotlandsPeople portal are the primary authoritative sources for documentary evidence.