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Ramsay

Boy name · 337 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Ramsay: 337 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to boys, peaking at 15 births in 2005.

With its strong Scottish roots, Ramsay began as a habitational surname from a place in the Scottish Borders, itself derived from the Old English *hramsa* meaning "wild garlic" and *ēg* meaning "island" or "low-lying land"—so a "wild garlic island." The name carries a whiff of the culinary thanks to the famously fiery celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, though it was also borne by the 14th-century Scottish nobleman Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie, a key figure in the Wars of Scottish Independence. There's no major place named after a Ramsay, but the Dalhousie clan territory is in Midlothian. A modern variant is Ramsay as a given name rather than surname, and it is often spelled Ramsey in English contexts, though the Ramsay spelling remains the traditional Scottish form.