In 1924 William Watson gave a brief survey of the occurrence in Scotland of personal names containing the names of saints. He observed an interesting coincidence of such names with place-names commemorating the same saints, and declared that further research on the matter might bear fruit. This research, over ninety years later, has yet to be done in any systematic way. I would like now to highlight some cases which strengthen Watson's arguments, and to examine one rich but late source which, while providing few answers, raises the kinds of questions we might ask, should further research be conducted.

There is a dearth of work done on personal names containing saints’ names in Scotland despite their frequency and wide spread over time and space. Watson's study is broad but does not go into much depth, while research into individual names, such as that by D. C. McWhannell on Mac Gilla Conaill, drills deeper, but covers only a handful of names. Notable work has been done by Fiona Edmonds but this covers only a portion of Scotland (the southwest), and is mostly concerned with forenames such as Gilla Pátraic.

I would like here to follow Watson in looking at surnames, in particular those containing Gilla or Máel. In order to underpin this work, however, further study is still desirable on the origins of these names as forenames: on why (precisely) such a name might be applied in the first place, on continuity of use (and difference) between Ireland and Scotland, and on the influence of the Norse and Anglo-Normans on their development. David Thornton, who repeats Watson's call for a systematic programme of work to be advanced, has made some important (though tentative) suggestions in this regard; I will follow him here in referring to this class of names as hagiophoric (‘saint-bearing’) names.

Gilla names first appear in the annals in the tenth century, usually in conjunction with a saint's name. Gilla means ‘servant’ or ‘lad’, so Gilla Faeláin, for example, means servant (or devotee) of St Faelán. When put in the genitive in a patronymic or a surname, this becomes Mac Gilla Fhaeláin/ScG Mac Ghille Fhaolain; later contraction to Mac ‘Ill'Fhaolain results in the Anglicized surname MacLellan.