Say Halò, count to fichead and find your council area’s name in Gaelic. Every word here is copied from LearnGaelic.scot or from the place-name list of Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, and linked so you can check it and hear it.
Scottish Gaelic, or Gàidhlig, is a Celtic language. Scotland’s Census 2022 found that 2.5% of people aged 3 and over had some Gaelic skills, up from 1.7% in 2011: an increase of 43,100 people. Scotland’s Census 2022: Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion ↗
In Na h-Eileanan Siar most people (57.2%) had some Gaelic skills. The next highest council areas were Highland (8.1%) and Argyll and Bute (6.2%). Scotland’s Census 2022: Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion ↗
Under the Act, Bòrd na Gàidhlig must work “with a view to securing the status of Gaelic as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language”. Bòrd na Gàidhlig: About us ↗
Read the storyShort lessons with flip cards and a quick check of what you’ve learned. Each card links to the LearnGaelic page it came from. Where LearnGaelic has a recording, the card also links to it: a sound clip on a Twenty Words list, a Little by Little lesson with listening, or a LearnGaelic Dictionary entry with a sound file. We don’t write our own “sounds like” spellings.
Loading the lessons… If they do not appear, reload this page or open LearnGaelic’s Little by Little Unit 1.
Search the English or the Gaelic, then tap a card to turn it over.
LearnGaelic’s Little by Little Unit 1 labels sibh “You (formal, polite, plural)” and thu “You (informal, singular)”. LearnGaelic.scot: Little by Little, Unit 1, Simple Gaelic greetings ↗
LearnGaelic’s Grammar Bites: “Gaelic has a plural form of ‘you’, which is also used as a polite form when talking to strangers or elders.” LearnGaelic.scot: Grammar Bites, personal pronouns ↗
LearnGaelic’s Unit 2: “Gabh mo leisgeul changes to Gabhaibh mo leisgeul when using the sibh form.” LearnGaelic.scot: Little by Little, Unit 2, Introducing yourself ↗
The lists of who to use each word with are from LearnGaelic’s Little by Little Unit 1 ↗.
Scottish Gaelic belongs to the Goidelic group of Celtic languages, with Irish and Manx. Britannica says the Goidelic languages originated in Ireland. Britannica: Goidelic languages ↗
The other group of Celtic languages, Brythonic, includes Welsh, Breton and Cornish. Culture Vannin, Learn Manx: Discover the story of Manx ↗
Britannica: “Scots Gaelic is a recent offshoot of the Irish language.”
Britannica: Scots Gaelic language ↗
Britannica: “Like Scottish Gaelic, Manx was an offshoot of Irish, and it is closely related to the easternmost dialects of Irish and to Scottish.”
Britannica: Manx language ↗
Culture Vannin’s Learn Manx: “Manx is a Goidelic (Gaelic) Celtic language descended from an old form of Irish. It is very similar to modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic.”
Culture Vannin, Learn Manx: Discover the story of Manx ↗
Manx is the Goidelic language of the Isle of Man, where this site is made. The quotes above are in the sources’ own words. Visit the cousins:
Scotland’s 32 council areas, with the Gaelic forms from Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, plus 10 towns and cities and 11 islands from LearnGaelic. Pick one to see its Gaelic name.
Every name comes from the list linked with it.
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba (AÀA) is the national advisory partnership for Gaelic place-names in Scotland. It recommends forms of Gaelic place-names for uses such as signage and maps. Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba: About ↗
Open AÀA’s Local Authorities list (PDF)We don’t give place-name meanings here, only the names.
scottish-gaelic.languages.im is an independent introduction, not a replacement for teachers or the organisations below. Go to them for real voices and for anything beyond first words.
LearnGaelic says its dictionary is “a comprehensive language tool for Gaelic learners containing 70,000 sound files”.
Open the dictionary ↗ 02 · LEARNShort lessons with listening. Unit 1 is simple Gaelic greetings.
Start Unit 1 ↗ 03 · WORDSThemed word lists with sound clips.
Browse the lists ↗ 04 · LOOK UPAm Faclair Beag is a Scottish Gaelic dictionary that incorporates Dwelly’s dictionary.
Search Am Faclair Beag ↗ 05 · ARCHIVEDASG, the Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic, is the University of Glasgow’s online repository of digitised texts, lexical resources and audio recordings for Scottish Gaelic.
Visit DASG ↗ 06 · PLACE NAMESThe national advisory partnership for Gaelic place-names in Scotland.
Read more ↗ 07 · GAELIC IN SCOTLANDThe principal public body in Scotland responsible for promoting Gaelic development.
Read more ↗ 08 · FIGURESLanguage results, including Gaelic skills by council area.
Read the report ↗Our promise: every Gaelic word on this site is copied from a source linked beside it (checked 30 October 2026), and words we couldn’t source were left out. For pronunciation, please listen to LearnGaelic’s recordings. We don’t offer our own audio or invented sound-alike spellings. See all sources.
scottish-gaelic.languages.im is free, with no adverts. Our Scottish Gaelic printables (worksheets, puzzles and colouring in A4 and US Letter) help keep it going, and there’s a free sample to try first. Every Gaelic word in them comes from the same sources as this site.