And how to distinguish them from someone who is Irish.
It may be true that “all white people like alike” to everyone else, as explained in Being Exotic Can Actually Mean Looking Generically Foreign (click that title to read the post), but there are definitely ways to distinguish which native country we all derived from; you just have to know what to look for. In this brief guide to discovering Scottish traits, I will show you how to recognize not only Scottish last names but also the physical features of people with ethnic roots in Scotland.
Once you get the hang of it, deciphering Scottish last names is easy and fun to do. An easy giveaway is a last name that is a common noun or a compound word, such as the following: Bell, Hall, Cash, Lemmon, Underwood, Locklear, Armstrong, Witherspoon, Eastwood.
Typically last names beginning with the prefix “Mc” or “Mac” are Scottish, unless attached to an Irish last name like McConnell, McCarthy, or McGeehan. (To look for Irish last names, look the name for end in the “en” or “ey” sound.) Therefore, Scottish last names are typically all other Mc/Mac names like MacKenzie, MacIntosh, McWilliams, McDonald, and McLane. If the first part of the last name is of no help, take a look at the last part- look for “ton”: Houston, Kingston, Middleton, Kennington.
Whereas American Jews often are often associated the film and media business, it’s American Scots that are behind the American food industry (McDonald’s, Campbell’s soups, and Kellogg’s cereals) as well the Protestant branch of Christianity (that’s why “Irish Catholic” is a familiar phrase but “Scottish Catholic” is not). It’s also safe to say that nearly half of African-Americans have a Scottish last name since most slave owners were either Scottish or English.
Scottish physical traits include a red tint in the person’s skin, wide nostril holes, and typically a nose that could not be considered small (not necessarily big, but not a button nose). A prime example is Jack McBryar from 30 Rock. He’s got the slight redness going on. And while he is not fair skinned, it’s easy to see the “Scottish redness” in his face, especially when he gets excited. And there are those large nostril holes.
And although redheads are often thought to be Irish, in reality there are more redheads of Scottish descent than there are Irish. Today, 13% of the population of Scotland is redheaded, while 10% of Ireland is redheaded.
So you if see the red hair, check their nostril holes and make sure they don’t have a small nose, ask for their last name, find out if their Baptist, and you may have a Scottish-American on your hands.
Click the link below to see a list of famous Scottish-Americans:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_Americans
Ray Kroc was a Czech American.
Interesting, I didn’t know that. Good thing he bought the Scottish brothers’ restaurant franchise.
I don’t think it was much of a franchise. I think he just bought the name and maybe logo. I’m too lazy to look it up.
I’m a 1/4 Scottish, and you got me on one account–my maiden name should have been McBride (not Southern). My grandma re-married when my dad was young and he took his adopted stepdad’s last name. So technically, I should have grown up as a McBride.
No red hair or big nostrils though–although I wouldn’t say my nose is small by any means!
Ha ha, that’s interesting
In the near future, I’ll be writing more in this series to explore the other 3/4 of your ethnic background. Next up, English and Irish.
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my grandmother, Emma Mcgullion, with stocky build had dark coarse hair, heavy black eyebrows, and some black hairs on upper lip. her skin was not light colored yet not olive. I always thought she was a Scott. Could I be right?
James, yes McGullion is definitely a Scottish name. While black-haired and darker skinned Scots are not the norm, there are plenty. Just like there are blonde and red-headed Italians. Here’s a link to the first darker featured actor I thought of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_McShane
And here’s another, who happens to be one of my favorite actors, featured in Band of Brothers and Office Space:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Livingston
Thanks for asking!
-Nick
All surnames that end is son such as Dawson or Anderson are scottish meaning son of. Dawson which is a Scottish surname comes from the Davidson clan meaning son of David. While Scots do have the highest porton of redheads there is also a common trait of them having dark hair usually mixed with red and blonde.
There are plenty of Catholic Scots, just google it and you’ll see many Catholic churches still in Scotland today.
Also most of the protestant Scots that came to America were Presbyterians and not Baptist. My family came here from Scotland in the 1750s and have remained Presbyterians to this very day.
I have dark hair, green eyes, and don’t fit into the ginger kid profile either but I do get a red tint to my skin even after a whole summer of working outside. I get very dark but it still has that red slightly burnt look to it. I do have a larger than average nose though.
By the way, my surname has no ‘Mc’ before it and no ‘son’ behind it. It’s simply Gray.
My grandfather was from the NE of Scotland. We did his ancestry all the way back to 1650 and they were all Scottish from the Aberdeenshire area. My grandfather was short, black haired, very dark complection and a large nose. Always being mistaken for a jewish person! I know that the area of Scotland was home to the Picts. I wonder if his family never mingled with the more fairer looking celts?
That’s interesting! You know, it’s funny: Several people have found this website by Googling “Is Jerry Seinfeld Scottish?” I guess there is some resemblance between Scottish and Jewish people.
Nice post! Those are definitely things that I would associate with a Scot.
I just thought I’d expand upon some things about the cultural analysis mentioned in your post and the later comments.
Having ‘son’ in ones last name is not uniquely Scottish. ‘Son’ is extremely common in Scandinavian descent for the same reason, as last names tended to be given on the basis of who your father was. Girls would be Olesdottir and boys Ollesson. The name Ferguson is a great example – being both Scottish and Scandinavian when tracing decent.
Red hair is not uniquely Scottish. Red hair comes from Nordic and Celtic origins. Theory says Celts came through from Austria, where their culture was believed to have started in La Tene before their migration. Scandinavian vikings raping, raiding, conquering and pillaging Ireland and Scotland give way to a lot of the lovely natural red and blonde highlights we see today in these people. Celtic Migration is responsible for the rest (while this is debated because there are some schools of thoughts that don’t believe ‘Celtic’ ever existed as a culture). Believe it or not, Dublin has its origins as a viking city.
Prior to Scandi’s and Celts the indigenous Scots and Irish had darker hair and eyes. This is probably where James & Nicoles ancestry comes in. Scots and Irish people also intermingled a lot, and there is a lot of evidence of workings going between the two locales. There is quite a large archaeological site on Achill Island in Co. Mayo Ireland that illustrates this connection.
So the aforementioned ‘Scottish’ traits, may be a sign of modern Scots, but they have their origin in a much deeper and complex migration and ethnicity. Using them to identify people would probably only work in a combination effect (i.e. coupling the last name with the appearance), as a lot of the phenotypical analysis you mentioned would apply to a lot of Northern European ethnicities – especially Scandinavians. Obviously through migration these traits can be attributed to many other colonised countries – especially Canada, Australia, and the USA.
The anthropologist in me has to point out that using phenotypical analysis (pretty much the practice of using appearance to figure out origin of people you meet) is seen in modern times as racist. This is despite the fact that most of us do this sort of analysis instinctively and quite commonly because our brains are wired to stereotype as it’s the most efficient way to analyse a lot of information from our surroundings at once. So just be careful not to offend anyone if you’re doing this sort of ethnic analysis on someone. If it isn’t someone you know or are super friendly with, it may be best to keep your thoughts on their Scottish-ness to yourself
Sorry I should clarify that I was speaking about red hair origins in Scotland, not so much the rest of the world, as it has originated in other places for other reasons.
Your list of supposedly Scottish physical traits is nothing short of racist! It is promoting a stereotype that is often inaccurate. I’m Scottish and I don’t have any of those traits. I have a dark complexion, black hair and dark brown eyes–I have a seemingly Mediterranean look. And these are common traits in Scotland. Scots aren’t a “race”–we don’t all descend from the same people. Modern Scots are a blend of pre-Celtic settlers, Brythonic Celts, Picts, Gaels, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, and others who have settled in Scotland over the millenia. And all the different groups who settled in Scotland were physically different from one another, resulting in a people today whose traits are equally varied. There are Scots who look like Swedes, and there are Scots who look like Spaniards, and everything in between. So stop stereotyping us!
Stewart, this blog post was written specifically about Americans of Scottish descent, not people who are Scottish and live in Scotland.
I laughed when I was reading this. I consider myself 100% scottish, I have been told I have large nostrils, lol-(not that large that I have been considered too large that I am ugly) I do have a red tinge in my skin-because it can get cold here sometimes and I spend too long next to the fire-I am not ginger-although I have close relatives who have firey red hair (of which I am jealous). Now Scotland does have a lot of diversity with their looks-though I must admit when you see Groundskeeper Willie on the Simpsons-It does and can remind me of a lot of people I know-
Lynzi, thanks for commenting. I realize that this article is a stereotype of Americans of Scottish descent, not actually Scottish people in Scotland. Glad you could see the humor and relate to it!
Irish is “Mc”. Scottish is “Mac”. And Scottish people aren’t Baptist, they’re Presbyterian.
I come from a long line of Scots and only one person in my family has any of the traits you mentioned. The rest are all fairly dark skinned with black curly hair. My mother looks as you mentioned above, however i look completely different. With dirty blonde hair and yellow eyes, i look completely out of place at family get togethers.
So you are the red sheep of the family?
What about epicanthal folds commonly known as “single eyelids”? I would be the third generation off the boat and my mother’s side (the scottish side) carries this trait. I had heard via word of mouth that this is a Scottish trait and I have the nose, but can’t find anything else to verify.
That’s a new one; I’ve never heard of that. Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
McDonalds the fast food chain was not originated by the McDonalds brothers, they bought the restaurant as it was on it’s way to the top. Others have contributed to the chain, the brothers gave their name and of course also contributed to its success, same as others. So really it is not a Scottish chain.
I’m 1/8 Scottish, I have a somewhat big nose & a slight bump/bend to it but I have really small nostrils, I’m pale but I have a yellow tint to my skin- not reddish(I do get beat red very easily though), I don’t have red hair but a lot of people in my family do(I have really dark blonde hair), I have the Scottish last name, & I’m Christian. So, I’d say you’re about half correct, with me at least. I do have smaller traces of Irish, German, Dutch, & Mayan Native American though.
So you’re 1/8th Scottish and I’m 1/2 right? I can feel good about those statistics
I thought the article was both humerous and informative as intended. My ancestry is Irish, Scots, Anglo-Irish (Northern English who settled in Ulster) and Jewish. My Scots and Irish were short, fair complexion, with blue eyes. I’m told by a cousin that the Anglo-Irish line were tall, swarty or olive complexed, with dark hair and brown or hazel eyes. Their noses were straight; a little wide at the nostril. Oh, and the Jewish line…they were huge linebacker sized men with white-blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and fair skinned!
Paul, thanks for sharing! And thanks for being cool!
Hi, interesting read – I’m Scottish (of Scottish ethnicity) – born, bred and living in Scotland. You said in a comment that this only applies to Scottish people in the US, why would they be different? What about first generation Scots? However, I am somewhat convinced of your point as it seems Scotland has a bit of a reputation abroad for having red haired/pale skinned folk. i’m Scottish and non-Scots (even here in Scotland!) often say things to me like “Umm… if you’re from Scotland how come you’re dark!?” (“If you’re from Africa.. how come you’re white!?” haha)
I think Scotland is an interesting country in terms of genetics because we’re a tiny country, on an island so separated from the rest of Eurasia, yet we’re so diverse.
I’m very short girl, olive skinned that has no redness, naturally black coarse very curly hair, black (thick when not shaped) eyebrows, small nose, big lips and dark brown eyes. I’m halfway between my mum and dad who is a lot darker than I am. His side of the family are all very dark. My mum is very light skinned with grey eyes and light brown hair and my dad has dark skin, hair so black it shines blue like Indian hair and black eyes. I have a half sister who has a different father to me, and she’s very very tan, shocking light blue eyes and white, platinum blonde hair. The tanned skin and blue/blonde seems to be very common in North Europe incidentally. I know so many Norweigans/Scots/French/Germans/Russians with similar colouring to her.
Here’s a picture of me and another Scottish friend – this is my natural skintone – no tan.
http://i41.tinypic.com/elb0p5.jpg
I think we both look very Scottish. We’re from nearby towns.So – in conclusion – we’re very diverse!
Jasmine, thanks for your input. I would say you look Italian. It’s interesting how diverse “true” Scottish people can be. I still feel it’s not that way here in the US. I think it’s pretty easy to tell who is of Scottish descent here.
I actually think I look Scottish, just not a type of Scottish that seems to be well known abroad
Interesting that the only Scots who emigrated to the US are of that one phenotype. Did the boats to the US throw off those of my kind? Maybe because most Americans have several countries in their blood they associate with the one they feel they most resemble? And they have that one idea of Scottishness? The baptist thing also surprised me, since there are very strong areas of Catholicism in Scotland. Scottish Scots and Irish Irish are very connected, doesn’t sound to be the case for those of some Scottish/Irish ancestry in the US.
Here in the UK – Welsh, Irish and Scottish are somewhat known for looking different to the Anglos. It seems a very celtic vs english trait to look like me. I wonder how first generation or Scots new to the US are recieved, as we seem very different to your native populatio!
My last name is Moody. While I’ve been told I have a larger nose, I have brown hair but my beard grows out red, red tinted skin and blue eyes what does that make me irish or scottish?
I’ll give ya 40% Irish, 60% Scottish. That’s cool about the red beard.
haha im chon fae week in the far far north of scotland..,.a very funny article this one. i enjoyed it a lot. im small dark, pictish looking with a bit of red in my beard, i have a huge hooter and an irish granny…saying that i think im a viking one minute, celt the next. The real point im making is tho that its a great thing being scottish, fas lek werselves!!
this is not always true. i am of scotish/irish/ english( mostly scotish) desent. i dont have red hair( but a few strands every now and then) not a big nose and my skin is tanish organgish. it all just depends on your genetic make up. although i may not look completely scotish people always ask me ” are you scotish or irish”. i do have those scotish charateristics though( boy di those stand out) and my last name has usually started with a mc( not any more though ) your looks just depends on your genes. but your characteristics who know where that came from
While I have a lot of German heritage through my maternal grandfather, my maiden name is Davidson. My maternal granddmothers were Kilgore and McFadden. We are big people (probably from both Scottish and German genes), strong and muscular in youth, fatter if not cautious. My nose is pointy and straight though still large, in my opinion, but my father, grandmother and sister had nostrils you could drive through! I do have pink undertones to my skin and often burn the first few times I am in the sun, but then tan and freckle. I was a light blonde (German?) in my youth but my hair has darkened to dirty dishwater or light brown.Still…some people say it looks red sometimes or in photographs. And…we are Baptists.
Not sure that some of that isn’t also from the German. My maternal great-grands were Sullivan (Irish sans O’-), Brock (?), Earp (?) and Bealisle (French?). We are 13 generations in America which we can trace by the German side, but a lot of the Scottish is undocumented…were it not for the physical traits and the names, I wouldn’t know this much.
The Scottish and Irish are one people so how can you say we look different? The Scottish and Irish have flitted from each others land since we arrived. We all arrived in Ireland and then moved about. And we are Scottish and Roman Catholic not Baptist although my mothers side does have an Irish Surname origin and my fathers side has a Scottish/Ulster surname origin.
I’m of Scottish heritage on my dad’s side. I think they came to America in 1700′s. I pretty much fit ALL those things you mentioned – plus I’m thrifty! I read that Scottish-Americans are among the highest percentage of millionaires in America because of our tendency toward thrift, investing and passing that to our children. I’m not a millionaire, but willing to work on it!
That’s cool to know!
Other Scottish traits I’ve read from obscure sources (and that I also have!) : if you look at that wide nostril from the side it has a triangular shape; peak at the top; Tendency for the body to be taller and angular; and flat fingernails. I thought the last was plain silly until I compared mine to other people’s and saw that mine really were flat compared to others. Fun stuff!
I’m a quarter scottish also, but i have blonde hair and blue eyes but i have a reddish tint to my skin. Is that a scottish trait?
Somehow that’s sounds more English to me.
What about Scottish or other people of British Isles and being more dolichocephalic [or long-headed] and freckling? I have the somewhat curly and dark hair [extremely dark brown or black] like many people on here have described, the somewhat larger nose with a slight “hook” and with larger nostrils, and the reddish or “ruddy” skin tint. But, are things such as freckling [including on the arms, which I definitely have arm freckles, slightly my nose, and apparently my back] more of a Scottish trait, or is that all over the British Isles, or even western Europe in general where R1B is the largest Y-DNA haplogroup?
], Hawes, Summerville, Frizzell, Cameron, Campbell, Duncan, Glass [possibly; it could be German], and Simpson [possibly; I though it was more of an English surname though].
Interestingly enough, the majority of my people on both sides since at least the late 19th Century were Baptists; the rest were Methodists, and mostly Anglicans or Reformed Christians before that. Though I am mostly English, it does seem Scottish is my 2nd-largest ethnic composition and have the following surnames in my family tree: McCoy [couldn't get much more obvious than that
Born there (Scotland), live here (California). Not a Baptist (dunno where you got that from, eroneous). Nice to belong or have a kinship from somewhere.
My Son was born here. I tell him to be proud of being an American of Scottish decent! Represent!
If you had an ID parade with representatives from all parts of Britain and Ireland and Americans of that descent i bet my bottom dollar you would get it wrong mostly. The Nazi’s tried this and it has absolutely no scientific basis at all, there maybe a higher prevalence of red haired people in Scotland and Ireland, but generally we look the same as the English who are a lot genetically closer than previously thought, we are all sums of the countless immigration’s that have gone before. I am Scottish with black coarse wavy hair and green eyes, i know a handful of ginger/red heads, but mostly are a mixture of all types.
Does anyone know anything about physical traits that differ a Scottish or Scottish-American from the English or an English-American? If the two are mixed in an individual from intermarrying back in history [like mine were, along with some French and a few Dutch people], will they look different from either of the two groups? Are there any true physical genetic differences between the English or the Scottish, or are they mostly the same people, contrary to what most of the rhetoric you hear against the English as “not being real Britons”?
Thank you in advance for any answers or help anyone can provide.
There is no discernible and definitive physical difference between any two people from Britain and Ireland as a rule, however in saying that i have noticed that typical rural Welsh people tend to be short, stocky and have a dark complexion, but this is not always the case. There is also a higher prevalence in red/ginger haired people in Scotland, but they are still a very small majority. So in answer to your question no.
never read so much s**te in my life i am 100% scottish and proud of it but red heads. wide nostrels red tinted skin come on man your having a laugh we are pale white because its either raining or its raining with sunny interals lol
Mmmm lots of people with no idea .Scots came from northern Ireland and mixed with the picts firstly.Also English are 80% neolithic ice age from 10,000years ago not much Anglo Saxon dna pretty much same as Ireland and Scotland.basically further north you go more pale skin and red hair because of lack of sunlight and further west more r1b male y chromosome Google it .more red heads in Scotland than anywhere else in the world nothing to do with vikings .vikings took many wives from UK back with them also 400 years ago 30,000 Scottish emigrated to Poland that’s a lot of people in these times .,ton is Anglo Saxon meaning smallholding farm etc found in southern England town endings .Iceland is 50% Irish because of the wives thing .I’ve a photo of me in the royal marines with my troop 50 of us 26 English 24 Scottish and we all look similar .Ferguson pringle Stewart my family
You are basically agreeing with my point there Pringle67, i have a book by Stephen Oppenheimer called ‘The origins of the British’, it backs up what you have said in your comment. There are however other projects that contradict the findings of Oppenheimer that find a high prevalence of so called Anglo-Saxon markers among certain areas of England, so it really depends on who you sample and what markers you are looking for. I think the higher ratio of red-heads in Scotland is down to random factors as much as anything else. I agree with your comment for the most part, but it is still an on-going area of research and we may never know the full facts. I think we are in essence a sum of all the immigrations and migrations that have happened throughout the centuries. I certainly don’t agree with the stereotypical nonsense that i have read on a lot of this thread.
Yep got to agree with the Anglo Saxon side .down the eastern strip of UK more germanic Dna .I’ve noticed that the further west you go the bigger the ears ha.Ever seen a German with big ears?? Sorry off topic there