Baby (Scottish Highland) Names *UPDATED W/ PICS*

[spiritedrose]

I am going to pick out my heifer today. I have three to choose from (and later today will post a picture of the one I get!)

I want to give her a Scottish name, even though she might already be registered with another name (they register all the heifers born in one year with the same beginning letter, like Mary, Misty, Molly, etc. rather than by family lines or individual character).

Here are a few I found that I like and I want your opinions on if you particularly like any of them or think one would be better to call a cow with!



Aila/Ailie- "Bird" and "Rival"

Ceana (pronounced Kenna): Gaelic for "fair one"

Ailsa- "Elf Victory"

Kenina- "Born of Fire"

Ailis- "Pledge from God"

Mairi- "Beloved" (Although my dog is "Maisie" and that may get confusing...)

Paisley- "Church"

Fenella- From a myth of children being turned into swans for 900 years. Fenella comes from a word meaning "white/fair" and "shoulders"


Or, do you have any other Scottish names you'd like to share?
Thanks!! I'm so excited! ;D

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UPDATE:
The Scottish/Gaelic for Rose is Ros (with a mark over the "o"). I will keep that in mind for her first heifer!! Thank you!

We decided on a beautiful shiny red heifer and had to decide on a name right away because the owners were going to register her with what I wanted, which is very cool.

So, her name is Ailis of Hem-Loch (their farm prefix).

Her mother is: Naomi of Hem-Loch
Her sire is: TCL Big Sky Lazlow

Naomi is a red cow born in 03. Both her mother and grandmother are on the farm and her grandmother is the "foundation cow" of the herd, about 22 years old. Very cool.

Lazlow is brindle, about a 7-8 year old bull. I didn't get to see him except in pictures, and his a big hansome boy. Of the five show yearling heifers they chose, they're all out of Lazlow. He comes from very hearty stock.

Ailis's Head (She is very friendly, but doesn't like to lead yet!)



Ailis (Sorry, bad lighting!!)



Her sister- she was shown as a yearling this year and is gorgeous. Great shoulders:



This is mom, Naomi. Not the best cow in the herd, but still very nice and from a good family line. Has a nice udder (she's dry now):

[mrskk]

Do you know what the Scottish word for rose is? Just thinking that it would go with your rose theme...

Our friends spent a year in Scotland (he's a professor and the school has a program that is run from a Scottish castle). They sent Rachel a postcard of a "woolly coo" - I just love these cows, although I am intimidated by their horns.

What inspired you to get into highlanders?

[beelady]

The name Brianna is a baby girl name. The name Brianna comes from the Celtic origin. In Celtic The meaning of the name Brianna is: Strong. She ascends
from wikipedia
Brianna means beautiful, good hearted, loving and caring, independent, noble, strong, virtuous;

[Claire]

You may regret asking, because I literally have an entire notebook of names that I like, for future cows/cats/dogs/chickens, etc. These are some of the Gaelic/Irish/Scottish ones

Aileas- variant of Alice
Aine- radiance
Aoife- beautiful
Bonnie- pretty
Brigid- lofty
Caoimhe- beautiful (pronounced kee-va)
Elspeth- God is my oath (variation of Elisabeth)
Fiona- fair
Greer- watchful
Isla- island
Lileas/Lilias- lily
Maeve- intoxicating
Mairead- pearl (pronounced mar-aid)
Moira- bitter sea (variation of Mary)
Morag- great
Nola- fair shoulder
Roisin- rose
Saoirse- freedom (pronounced seer-sha)
Sileas- heaven
Sorcha- bright

[tripleh]

I had to smile when I read this post... I had a friend called Fenella... and she definitly did not fit the description of her name! I am from the Northern part of England... just south of the Scottish border... so hearing those names made me sit for a few moments and think about all my pals back home...

Rose

[tassie]

I'm not biased or anything but the full version of my name is Catriona (Catreee-o-na, not Catree-owner) and it's Scottish gaelic, courtesy of my Scottish dad. It means 'pure and clean' - perfect for a cow ;D ;D ;D

Trina

[Tricia]

Bridget comes to mind for some reason. I don't think it is Scottish but ......

[Canaan Farms]

I would need to know her personality first. If "pretty" is what you notice first, then I'd choose Bonnie. If she's a spit fire, then I'd probably choose Kenina. If she's just plain precious, I'd choose Mairi. What a fun job you have!

~Kay

[spiritedrose]

Karen- First of all, I will be dehorning her as soon as I get her. Since we have to do all our Jersey calves, it's definitely no big deal! I won't be able to compete in shows with her, but I am willing to sacrifice that possibility in order for increased safety.

Second, I first fell in love with the cute hairy breed when I visited my friend, Mother Therese Critchley, who is a nun out in the San Juan Islands. She gets a milk cow from us occasionally and has been in the raw milk business over 30 years. Anyway, she has a small Highland herd and is interested in preserving rare/heritage type breeds. They also have Kerry.

Highland seemed like a great combination between unique and affordable. There are lots of highland breeders compared to kerry, for example! Also, they're adorably cute. but most of all, they're a small breed of cattle and at 5' 1", I want smaller animals to work with (my dad has a monstrous Simmental and she's awesome, but scarily big!). I can breed her (we'll do AI), hoof trim, brush her, lead her, etc. And I can pretty much be comfortable around her. My Jersey family is similar- smaller in stature (well, around 46-48", so not tiny, but not huge)

Claire- Interesting version of Rose. I didn't see that earlier...

Trina- Definitely a good name, especially if you're selling a product relating to that animal!!

Tricia- I think it is Scottish, but spelled a bit different (or, maybe just a scottish form of an English name?)

Thank you for your interest in my girl! They will deliver her to us next week when I get back from a funeral in Portland.

[tassie]

I was only joking Michelle!!!! I was thinking of the cow's rear end when it came to cleanliness so I appreciate your take on it ;D ;D.

I think Brigitte is Irish catholic, from memory....

Anyway she's gorgeous, whatever her name turns out to be .

trina

[Damon]

She's beautiful! Good luck with her.

Is the Scottish Highlands breed a dual purpose?

What's the temperament like on them? They sure look interesting.

Damon

[spiritedrose]

Trina- sounds Irish, I bet you're right.

Damon- Absolutely NOT! lol They're just adorable cows that barely have enough milk for baby. But, that's okay. I bet a Jersey x Highland would be a great brood cow/multipurpose cow and I'm toying with the idea of breeding her to Jersey when she's older. For now, though, I will stick with Highland AI if it is not cost prohibitive. I already paid $300 more than the max I was willing to pay for her, darn it!
The herd where my girl's from are I think a bit larger in general compared to some Highlanders.

Temperament depends, but in general they're very protective mommys. The older girls don't care about us and we can walk around them without bothering them, but if you try to go up to them, they'll run off. They are very close to only one or two people (their owners/caretakers). Being as this girl will be a big pet and never get eaten, I'm going to put her in with Ruby and they'll be stall mates, so I hope they'll become friends and rub off on eachother's good traits!

[mrskk]

Ailis is a beautiful name and fits her beautiful face to a T!

I had to call Rachel in for a quick look at her pictures (she's waiting for the school bus) and she said, "AAAAWWWWWW!"

[amysflock]

Yeah, Highlands aren't big on strangers, but they're wonderful (usually) with their people. They are excellent mothers, generally mellow, inquisitive animals. I've heard someone somewhere milks their Highlands, but they are a beef breed. When I'm ready to have a milk cow, I'll get a Jersey or Guernsey. (Dexters are more of a dual purpose breed.)

And Michelle, you're right...Hem-Loch has a large herd, larger than most of us.

[Deleted]

I like Paisley, but that's just because I knew how to pronounce it!

We just got 10 new cows and the neighbor and his wife came over to see them. She told me to name them on their personality. My DH was telling her that there was one BIG black cow that came up to the feed bunk when my DH brought out the bucket of grain. Eva said to call that one Hyacinth (sp?) because of the English comedy Keeping Up Appearances...Mrs. Bucket...Bouquet. We thought she's not one to miss a meal.

Gwen in IA

[darbyfamily]

Actually, I'd read that highlands have awesome milk and can have a higher butterfat content than jerseys at times. We'd considered a highland before we got our dexter but there is only one person near us that raises them and he just has a few.

They are great for meat and as family milkers You wont get 3-4 gallons a day like you might from a jersey, but they can be milked

[Damon]

Any update Michelle?

Damon

[spiritedrose]

Jennifer- The heifer I bought is from a strictly beef line and he made it very clear they're not milk cows. Yes, you could probably get some milk out of them, but I would rather let her baby get fat and healthy off of it. It likely does have higher butterfat than Jerseys (when she calves in, I can send it in to be tested lol) because they don't milk nearly as much and so have higher contents to meet the needs of their babies.

damon- I am waiting for a stall to open up in the transition barn so I can call them to bring her up to me! He was in the middle of breaking her to lead, so this gives him a few more days to work with her and hopefull calm her down some around humans. I'm pushing to get her soon!