He’s been called the Celtic Cupid, and so he’s a fitting choice for Valentine’s Day.
This one is for Nessa. Our Name of the Day is Angus.
It is always tempting to draw parallels between the gods and mythic figures of vastly different cultures, and Aengus is often listed as Cupid’s counterpart. But Aengus had no wings, no bow and arrow. He was the son of the Dagda, a powerful father-figure king in Irish myth, and Boand, a goddess associated with rivers. Depending on the source, Aengus is associated with youth, music, poetry and yes, love. He was also said to be quite handsome – something of a mash-up between Cupid and Apollo.
He’s also long been a popular pick for a given name. Óenghus, Aenghus and Aonghus are all variants Anglicized as Angus. The name has been worn by:
- Three ancient, possibly legendary High Kings of Ireland, each ruling centuries before the birth of Christ;
- A fifth century King of Munster;
- Two Pictish kings from the 700s and 800s;
- Ninth century Saint Angus the Culdee – Servant of God. He tried to live as a hermit, but when the faithful kept seeking him out, he retired to a monastery where he co-wrote one of the earliest accounts of the Irish martyrs.
It’s an impressive list. And then there’s the livestock.
With all those famous bearers of the name, little wonder we find Angus on the map. The cattle associated with County Angus is now known as Angus cattle, and so you can probably find certified Angus beef in your grocery store. It’s not the best association for a child’s name, but I don’t think it rules him out, either.
His meaning is appealing. From Celtic roots oino or óen – one – and guss – choice, or possibly strength – we arrive at something like “the one choice” or “the one strength.” It’s a bit vague, but seems promising.
Speaking of the bits that make up Angus, one of his best attributes is that parents of Angus can nickname their son Gus.
Anguses of more recent note include:
- AC/DC schoolboy guitarist Angus Young;
- Clever fictional problem-solver Angus MacGyver from television’s MacGyver;
- Angus Purden has hosted BBC’s Cash in the Attic;
- Angus T. Jones plays Jake Harper, the slacker son and “half” on CBS’ Two and a Half Men.
While Angus is familiar to most as a given name, he’s appealingly rare – at least in the US. He ranked in the Top 1000 most years from 1880 to 1928, and last charted in 1948.
In Australia, he’s a Top 50 pick and ranks in Scotland’s Top 100. If you’re reading from overseas, there might already be a small Angus on every block.
But for those of us in the US, Angus could be the perfect pick – historic, strong but still quirky, with that great nickname option and good odds that you’ll never meet another.
Miranda says
January 5, 2016 at 3:01 PMI had a Scottish roommate my freshman year of college. We discussed classic Scottish names, and I recall liking Angus then. It fell out of the back of my mind, until one day I was surfing Nameberry. I shared it with my DH. He was wild about it, and it’s now the name of our son! I had my doubts during the pregnancy, but he insisted. And I am so very glad he did.
Courtney says
August 3, 2012 at 12:50 AMMy husband is Angus. He is exactly the way you imagine someone whose name means “one choice” would be – strong, stubborn, charming, influential. There is no other name in this world that I can imagine suiting him more. His whole life, he has been extremely confident, and so has never had any problem with bullying, or with people snickering at his name (chances are he’d find something to tease you about in response before you’d even finished your sentence). He loves his name so much, that he’s even trying to convince me to name our son Angus, and though I’m not sure I want a Junior, it does make me smile to think of having a little Angus running around.
David Watson says
May 23, 2012 at 2:40 PMOkay, quick update, Angus is now 10, and my son still loves the name, his coaches and teachers always remember it and He never gets teased about it except in a good natured “Hey Beef” type of way. Parents now a days name their kids all kinds of wierd names and I’m pretty sure the name teasing is a product of a by gone era because I rarely here of it and I stay pretty close to the ground in my son’s life. All in All I am so happy I named my son Angus and very happy he wears the name proudly and confidently.
Angus Alexander Watson, you rock my son.
Adrian says
January 27, 2011 at 12:08 PMI don’t know why, but I can’t speak this name without saying it in a loud, obnoxious Scottish brogue! I do think it’s a handsome name, even though I couldn’t use it, because I’d always think of cows and AC/DC.
Angusmyson says
July 9, 2010 at 3:57 PMOkay Susan, chill out. We named our son Angus, my Dad and Grandfather also had the name. They were both called Sandy throughout their lives, never really got that but its a Scottish thing. Our son is now 8 and loves the name. We’ve never had any problem with teasing, occasionally he gets called Beef, but he doen’t seem to mind, and he is a big kid anyway. Nobody snickers when they hear the name, and he gets lots of compliments on his strong Galic name. Also, everyone who hears it remembers his name so he is always the teachers, coaches etc. remember it right off. I imagine this will come in handy later in live. Child abuse, come on now, maybe a little over the top.
Bree says
July 9, 2010 at 5:51 PMIt is so nice to hear of a real Angus! Great choice!
Susan says
June 13, 2010 at 5:12 PMI have to agree with Sara. Angus is a name that makes you think of cattle. I think parents need to consider the cruelty and ridicule that a child will have in school. There is just nothing attractive about this name. There are books full of names that are cool and unusual. This one needs to be left to die with in the last generation. I totally can see kids calling him “anus.” It borders on child abuse to set a young boy up with name that will cause kids, teachers and adults to snicker behind his back for the rest of his life.
appellationmountain says
June 13, 2010 at 6:55 PMReally? I think Angus would wear well. I know a pint-sized Seamus, and more than one little Gus. I suppose it depends on where you live, but here, Angus would fit right in.
Sara says
September 9, 2009 at 3:28 AMLiving in Texas, there is no way I could name a child Angus. Where’s the beef?
SophieGray says
February 16, 2009 at 1:12 PMI really can’t edit very well, can i?! I meant ‘Hudson Kai’, in the top 100 for Victoria in 2008 – not 200! 🙂
SophieGray says
February 16, 2009 at 1:11 PMI’ve had a seriously long love for Angus – before it’s uber popularity boost in Australia (where I’ve lived most of my life) – and it’s a boys name my DH and I instantly agreed on!
Like Emmy Jo, ‘Gus’ only bings to mind the little mouse from Cinderella (partly due to Matilda’s current infatuation with the film!), but that doesn’t really deter me. I don’t mind if my kids dont have mn, and Angus is just too endearing to give up!
I only wish my brother and his wife hadn’t beaten us to the punch first! However, i must say that I am proud I have a nephew named Angus Philipe, over something like Hudspn Kai (which were both in the top 100 – #100 and #92 – for my state in 2008)
Jodi says
February 16, 2009 at 1:38 AMThis is probably my favorite boys’ name in the whole world, mainly for the Gus potential, I’ll admit. I did live in Scotland for 6 years, where my mother in law is from and my husband was born, so I feel like I have some legitimate claim to it. Unfortunately, after three pregnancies of campaigning hard, hubby still doesn’t see the appeal, and I don’t think our little one due in a couple weeks will end up a Gus if he’s a boy. Sigh… I hope someone else gets to use it!
Kate says
February 15, 2009 at 7:24 PMAngus has lots of upright, Scottish character doesn’t he? I’m a big fan, the only negative for me, and this is completely personal, but he feels a bit ANG-ular!
Emmy Jo says
February 15, 2009 at 4:27 PMAgnes, Ansel, and now Angus…now those would be a confusing sibset!
Angus is cool. I’m not one that gets into “Gus”, however. To me, he’s the intellectually challenged mouse in Disney’s Cinderella. I just don’t see his appeal.
Natalie says
February 15, 2009 at 6:53 AMAngus is my grandfather, he is known as Gus. We are Scottish.
I dismissed this name for a while due to it being my grandfathers name but now I am thinking it would be great to use in the middle.
Nessa says
February 15, 2009 at 2:59 AMThank you for squeezing him in today, Verity!!!!
I really love Angus. He’s a little quirky, but not too quirky, you know? I love the sound, and I can’t imagine an Angus being anything but awesome. There are two reasons we decided against him. One, we’re vegetarian, so, it seems a little weird to name our son something people associate with beef. Two, I realized what happened if you take the g out of Angus, and I worry about the teasing that could cause… normally I don’t worry about that, but I think that could be worse than the teasing with most names, I don’t know. Also, I think I just love August more, and you can’t use both! Well, I do still love Angus, and I think it might make a better first name than August… but, well, I guess it’s mainly the Anus thing, I really worry about that.
Christina Fonseca says
February 14, 2009 at 11:44 PMHappy Valentine’s Day!
I admit – Angus cattle is the first thing I think of, probably because I’m from a rural area. Although I know of men named Angus in my area, I have yet to meet one. I’m sure if I saw one on a regular basis, say the grandchild of one of my friends, or the child of a coworker, I would start thinking of Angus as a person.
I have nothing against it – in fact, I’m kind of hoping somebody around me names a little one Angus so I can get over my steak and bull association. 🙂
Lola says
February 14, 2009 at 10:32 PMI really dig Angus, I can almost hear the brogue when I say him! 😀 I find just about any way to get Gus pretty entrancing, Angus is one of the best. But August & his variants, Fergus, Gustav, even Constantin, where Gus is an alternate nickname. Yeah, Angus is way appealing! Warm, strong, handsome and charming. I’ve been thinking about August/Gus for Mom, but maybe Angus would work too. I know my Brother, the AC/DC fan would approve! Either way, I’d bet that I’ll be hearing Angus more & more when I end up in Boston and I can hope he’ll spread, he’s got character, loads of character and I’d love to see more of him!