top Scottish boy's names

[ThistleDown]

Can members in America tell us how you pronounce 'Colin'? I'm thinking here of Colin Powell, as just one of many. Is it 'ko-lin' or 'caw-lin'? Not intended as a trick question; it could be that the double-l came about as a result of unfamiliar recorders and the tendency, therefore, for the double-l to be pronounced differently than the single-l.

[Liam]

Rex... In Canada as I’m sure you’ve experienced both are equally common.

[kingandrew]

In the US, the pronunciation of "Colin" varies. As you note, General Colin Powell is a "ko-lin." Meanwhile Colin Firth is a "caw-lin."

I don't know that there is any rhyme or reason to the variation.

In addition, the spelling "Collins" with an S is not only a common surname, but is not infrequently used as a given name itself.

Another thing that varies is the spelling of "Alan." My brother is an Alan one, but Allan and Allen both see use as given and surnames. One of the most famous American authors is Edgar Allan Poe.

So, in answer to your question about whether Americans say it this way or that way, I can only respond, "Yes, we say it both ways."

Andrew

[neloon]

As an aside, I have just discovered that my daughter's name, Sophia, has been the top US girl's name for 8 consecutive years.
The top boy's name is apparently Jackson - in the UK, we tend to assume that men in the US are all celled Hank, or Chuck, or Dwight etc.

Alan

[tripleblessed]

Can members in America tell us how you pronounce 'Colin'? I'm thinking here of Colin Powell, as just one of many. Is it 'ko-lin' or 'caw-lin'? Not intended as a trick question; it could be that the double-l came about as a result of unfamiliar recorders and the tendency, therefore, for the double-l to be pronounced differently than the single-l.

Rex, in more than 70 years, with a reasonable amount of travel across six continents and working in the commercial theater/trade show business
working with the gamut from uneducated and often willfully ignorant stagehands from across the world to the CEOs and VPs from across the world
who run the evil empire , I've never heard cawlin. I've also never personally known a koelin. I have, though, known and heard the pronunciation
kah lin, as in Collin with two Ls, whether spelled (or spelt) with one or two. As you and your ear and sensibility are one of my mainstays on this forum,
I think some of this is just how we as individuals perceive the same heard or seen event. As in Peking/Beijing and Kolkata/ Calcutta.

[Bruce Scott]

Scotland:
1. Jack
2. Oliver
3. James
4. Lewis
5. Noah
6. Logan
7. Harris
8. Alexander
9. Leo
10. Harry

Australia:
1. Oliver
2. William
3. Jack
4. Noah
5. James
6. Thomas
7. Ethan
8. Lucas
9. Jackson
10. Lachlan

Monty Python fans may be surprised to discover that 'Bruce', very popular when I was a boy, did not even make the Australian top 100.

[Damion]

Alasdair is not "more Scottish",

Yes it is more Scottish as it originated there. Alexander is what? Roman, English from Alexandros? Wherever it came from it didn't originate in Scotland but Alasdair did.

[ThistleDown]

2016 in Canada:

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Lucas
4. Oliver
5. Benjamin
6. Logan
7. Owen
8. Jacob
9. Jack
10. Ethan
11. Alden
12. William
13. Lincoln
14. James
15. Jackson

[ThistleDown]

Rex, in more than 70 years, with a reasonable amount of travel across six continents and working in the commercial theater/trade show business
working with the gamut from uneducated and often willfully ignorant stagehands from across the world to the CEOs and VPs from across the world
who run the evil empire , I've never heard cawlin. I've also never personally known a koelin. I have, though, known and heard the pronunciation
kah lin, as in Collin with two Ls, whether spelled (or spelt) with one or two. As you and your ear and sensibility are one of my mainstays on this forum,
I think some of this is just how we as individuals perceive the same heard or seen event. As in Peking/Beijing and Kolkata/ Calcutta.

Experiences differ, for sure, just as places of abode and influences of the local tongue do, but until Colin Powell came along I had never heard it pronounced koe-lin in the UK, Ireland or Canada. In Scotland, Canada and Ireland it's pronounced caw-lin. Lots of Colins among the Campbells, just as there are many Kenneths among the Mackenzies, Donalds among the Macdonalds, Lachlans among the Mackintoshes, Ewans among the Macphersons and Gregors among the Macgregors. But, in my experience, no Colins with a double-l. The Campbell popularity is from the 13C Cailean Mor, of course.

As for Alan as a given name, that's certainly how it is generally spelled in Scotland, although perhaps if it is a surname taken on as a given it might appear as Allan or Allan to fit its origin. Just not traditionally. Names such as Kenneth, Donald, Gregor, Colin are the anglised Gaelic forms of Coinneach, Domhnall, Greogair, Cailean, so if we are speaking here of 'Scottish' boys' names the spelling and pronunciation would be as in Scotland.

I guess that if Colin is pronounced koe-lin in America that explains why Americans prefer Allan over Alan. The latter would have to be Ay-lin

Want to have a go at Aeneas? A popular name in 18C and 19C Scotland; it almost never appeared in another language than Greek and is now out of style even in Scotland.

[macmanjim]

I gave my kids pretty standard names. Benjamin, Olivia, Mary, Evelyn and Caroline. Wife is a Mary, I am a James. No odd names there. Mom was a Florence Violet, Dad Anthony. Antonio really. Grandparents were Luigi/Maddalena and Ezra/Violet. Funny thing is they called Luigi Tony and Ezra went by his middle name too, Benjamin. Not sure I'd dig Ezra or Luigi. Lots of kids in my kids classes have trendy names, like casey, cody, taylor, stuff like that. It's good to see the standards are doing well.