There is no strict legal definition of what constitutes a town in Scotland, with different local authorities using different metrics to define them over the years.
It’s certainly not the case the towns are always smaller than cities – a total of 12 towns are home to more people than Scotland’s smallest city of Stirling.
Meanwhile, the Highland settlement of Dingwall is classed as a town, even though it has a population smaller than the village of Bishopton (whose suffix would suggest it was a town).
Here’s how Scotland’s largest 13 towns got their names – and the people, topography and etymology behind them.
Meanwhile, the Highland settlement of Dingwall is classed as a town, even though it has a population smaller than the village of Bishopton (whose suffix would suggest it was a town).
5. Cumbernauld
It' believed that Cumbernauld's name probably comes from the Gaelic phrase 'comar nan allt', which means "meeting of the streams". Some think it refers to the streams nearby thaty flow both west to the Clyde and east to the Forth. Others think it referes to the meeting of the Red Burn and Bog Stank in Cumbernauld Glen. Photo: Google Maps
6. Kirkcaldy
The name Kirkcaldy means 'place of the hard fort', coming from the Pictish words 'caer' (fort) and 'caled' (hard). The 'hard' is thought to refer to a particulary strict leader who owned the fort. Photo: Google Maps
7. Kilmarnock
The name Kilmarnock literally means' Marnock's Church'. The Marnock in question is Saint Marnock who was born in Ireland in the late 6th century and was a monk at the abbey on the island of Iona before becoming a Scottish missionary. Photo: Canva/Getty Images
8. Dumfries
The definite story of how Dumfries got its name has been lost, but there are theories that it comes from one of the Celtic languages. The first part of the name could be from the word 'drum', meaning 'ridge', or from 'dùn', meaning 'fort'. The second part could be from the Cumbric 'prēs' and refer to an ancient settlement called Penprys that may have once stood there. Others think that the Gaelic connection continues, with the word 'phris' meaning 'thicket', making the town's full title 'fort of the thicket'. Photo: Canva/Getty Images