Scots didn’t hold back on giving their opinion on the American man named after our home country
Scotland is a beautiful and picturesque country that stirs all sorts of emotions and feelings in visitors and natives alike. The land may inspire you to learn Scots, explore rural villages or towns, or experience more of the outdoors.
But what if the country inspired your baby’s name? This was the case for one American man who revealed online recently that he is, in fact, called Scotland.
The man, who resides in the US, took to Reddit to share his story. “Question – how does my real name being Scotland make you guys feel?” the man asked tentatively.
“I am an American-born person with the birth name of Scotland – yes, I am serious. I was just curious how that makes you guys feel. Is it legitimately annoying, is it cool or just dumb?”
As expected, Scots didn’t mince their words when it came to addressing the man’s concerns.
One user wrote: “I’d shorten it to Scott if it’s a first name,” while another agreed: “If you met me in person and told me your legal first name is Scotland, I’d probably laugh a little and ask if it’s okay to just call you Scott instead.”
Others were more sceptical, writing: “Naming your kids after places has always appeared stupid to me personally.
Another chimed in: “Never understood naming kids after places. It’s kind of dumb.”
Scotland – the man – did receive some understanding, too.
“There are literally people named Alba and Scott,” one user replied. “You’re fine,” while another reasoned: “Who really cares? It’s just a name. You don’t choose it, it was there before you were born.”
A Scottish local added: “It’s odd but basically nobody cares. That’s your burden or not depending how you feel. Kids don’t get to choose their names but once old enough, plenty decide to use another or legally change them.”
Another gave quite a comical but stern view, scribing: “It’s very American like Hunter and Murphy and saying you’re Irish cause your great great great grandfather once went to an Irish pub.
“I don’t know if you’d like people to be up in arms saying it’s racist and cultural appropriation but to be honest the most you’d get is probably an eye-roll for having what Brits would consider a bit of a silly name.”
Another poster referred to many celebrities who are named after countries. “First thought is that’s unusual, but then you have America Ferreira and no one bats an eye,” they reasoned.
Scotland is also the middle name of Kourtney Kardashian’s daughter, Penelope Scotland Disick.
Despite the sarcasm from some Scots, Scotland is actually ranked as the 28,664th most popular given name in the United States with an estimated population of 163, according to mynamestats.com.
Based on the analysis of 100 years worth of data from the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Baby Names database, the estimated population of people named Scotland is 284.
The state with the most people named Scotland is California where 33 people have this name.