Lachlan (name)


Lachlan is a masculine given name of Scottish Gaelic origin.

Origins

The name is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic Lachlann, which is in turn derived from the earlier Gaelic personal name Lochlann.
In the ninth century, the terms Laithlinn / Laithlind, appear in historical sources as terms denoting the origin of Vikings active in Ireland. The exact meaning behind these terms is uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the terms Lochlann / Lochlainn came to replace these earlier terms; and that, by the eleventh century, Lochlann / Lochlainn certainly referred to Norway in historical sources. Whether the terms Lochlann / Lochlainn were originally related to Laithlinn / Laithlind, or merely conflated with them, is unknown. In mediaeval Irish literature, the term Lochlann refers to a vague faraway place: sometimes the Otherworld, and sometimes Scandinavia.
Pet forms of Lachlan include Lachie, Lachy, and Lockie. A feminine form of the name is Lachina. A related form of Lachlan is the Irish Lochlainn. Anglicised forms of this latter name include Laughlin and Loughlin. Lochlainn has also been rendered into English as Lawrence. A variant form of Lachlann in Argyll is Lachann, a name influenced by the similarly sounding Eachann. Historically, the name Lachlan and its variants were most commonly found in Argyll. The following proverb contains the name Lachlan :
"Mar mhadadh ag ol eanruich ainmean Chlann ‘ll ‘Eathain “Eachann, Lachann.”
or; "Like a hound lapping broth are the names of the Clan Maclean "Eachan, Lachan" "Hector, Lachlan".
The senior branch of Clan Maclean are the Macleans of Duart. This branch was established in the 14th century on the Inner Hebridean Isle of Mull. The first Laird was known as Lachainn Lubanach or "Lachlan the crafty". Of the first fourteen Lairds of Duart, seven were named Lachlan and seven were named Hector. Forms of the name Lochlainn were borne by Uí Néill and other families in the Early Middle Ages. Before the beginning of the nineteenth century, forms of the name were common amongst families in northern Ireland, but have since become unfashionable. Forms of the name Lachlan were historically common amongst families with connections to the Scottish Highlands, but have become popular in Australia and New Zealand. A less common variant is the name Lauchlan.
Modern patronymic forms of the personal name Lochlann include the Irish surnames Mac Lochlainn, and Ó Lochlainn. A patronymic form of the personal name Lachlann is the Scottish Gaelic surname MacLachlainn. Forms of the personal names first appear on record in the tenth century. The earliest known bearer of such names was Lochlaind mac Maíl Shechnaill, heir of the Corca Mruad, whose death is noted by the Annals of Inisfallen in 983. Another member of the Corca Mruad, a certain Lochlainn, is recorded by the same source to have been slain in 1015. Afterwards, the principal family of the region was the Uí Lochlainn, who bore the surname Ua Lochlainn. In Ulster, the Annals of Ulster record the slaying of a Lochlainn mac Maíl Shechlainn, an Uí Néill dynast, in 1023. This man's powerful grandson, Domnall Ua Lochlainn, High King of Ireland, ensured that their descendants, the Meic Lochlainn, bore the surnames Mac Lochlainn and Ua Lochlainn. The eponymous ancestor of the Scottish Clann Lachlainn, traditionally regarded as yet another branch of the Uí Néill, was a much later man who bore a form of the name Lachlan.

Popularity

In the 2000s and 2010s, Lachlan was a common baby name in Australia and New Zealand, ranking within the top ten masculine names registered in several Australian states. In 2008, Lachlan was ranked as the third most popular masculine baby name in New South Wales, with 581 registered that year. The same year, the name was ranked as the sixth most popular masculine baby name in Victoria, with 438 registered. In 2013 it was the tenth most popular name for boys in Australia. In 2018, the name was more popular in New Zealand than in Australia, as it ranked 13th in New Zealand, and 17th in Australia. The name used to be popular in Scotland, and Ireland, but the use of the name in those countries has been decreasing in recent years.

People

Given name

Lachlann

  • Lachlann Mac Ruaidhrí, Scottish magnate

    Lachlan

  • Lachlan, Lord of Galloway
  • Lachlan Boshier, New Zealand rugby union player
  • Lachlan Buchanan, Australian actor
  • Lachlan Burr, Australian rugby league player
  • Lachlan Coote, Australian rugby league player
  • Lachlan Dent, Australian basketball player
  • Lachlan Donald Ian Mackinnon, Royal Navy officer
  • Lachlan Dreher, Australian field hockey player
  • Lachlan “Lac” Edwards, Australian gridiron football player
  • Lachlan Elmer, Australian field hockey player
  • Lachlan Gillespie, Australian children's entertainer
  • Lachlan Gordon-Duff, British politician, MP for Banffshire
  • Lachlan Grant, Scottish doctor
  • Lachlan Hansen, Australian rules footballer
  • Lachlan Mackinnon, Scottish poet, critic and literary journalist
  • Lachlan Maclean, several people
  • Lachlan Macleay, American officer in the United States Air Force, trained as an astronaut
  • Lachlan Macquarie, Scottish officer in the British Army, last autocratic Governor of New South Wales
  • Lachlan Maranta, Australian Rugby League player
  • Lachlan McCaffrey, Australian rugby union player
  • Lachlan McGillivray, Scottish emigrant to Georgia, fur trader and plantation owner
  • Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish American general in the Continental Army
  • Lachlan McLean , American radio host
  • Lachlan McPherson, Scottish footballer with Notts County, Swansea and Everton
  • Lachlan Mitchell, Australian rugby union player
  • Lachlan Morton, Australian professional road racing cyclist
  • Lachlan Murdoch, British media executive
  • Lachlan Nieboer, English actor and producer
  • Lachlan Olbrich, Australian basketball player
  • Lachlan Pendragon, Oscar-nominated Australian animator
  • Lachlan Power, Australian YouTuber
  • Lachlan Renshaw, Australian middle-distance runner
  • Lachlan Ross, Australian rules footballer
  • Lachlan Stevens, Australian cricket player and coach
  • Lachlan Turner, Australian rugby union player
  • Lachlan Wales, Australian soccer player
  • Lachlan Walmsley, Scottish rugby league footballer
  • Lachlan Watson, American actor

    Lachie/Lachy

  • Lachy Doley, Australian musician
  • Lachie Henderson, Australian rules footballer
  • Lachy Hulme, Australian actor and screenwriter
  • Lachie Hunter, AFL footballer
  • Lachie McMillan, Scottish footballer
  • Lachie Munro, New Zealand rugby player
  • Lachie Neale, AFL footballer
  • Lachie Plowman, AFL footballer
  • Lachie Stewart, Scottish distance runner
  • Lachie Thomson, English footballer
  • Lachie Whitfield, AFL footballer

    Lochlann/Lochlan/Lochlainn

  • Lochlainn Ó hUiginn, member of the Ó hUiginn brehon family
  • Lochlann Ó Mearáin, Irish actor
  • Lochlann of Galloway, Lord of eastern Galloway
  • Lochlann Óg Ó Dálaigh, 17th-century Irish poet
  • Lochlainn O'Raifeartaigh, Irish physicist
  • Lochlann Quinn, Irish entrepreneur
  • Lochlan Watt, Australian broadcaster
  • S. Lochlann Jain, writer and academic

    Fictional characters

  • Lachlan Fraser, from the Australian soap opera Home and Away
  • Lachlan "Lockie" Leonard, main character in Tim Winton's Lockie Leonard books

    Surname