Name your design

Once you have saved a tartan design in our system, you can name and describe it in detail. This will help friends and others to appreciate and understand the ideas and inspirations that lie behind the tartan you have created.

Give your tartan a unique name

If you only ever intend to use your designs yourself, and never share or record or produce them in any other way, you can more or less name them as you like. (But please don't be offensive.) Our only rule is that you may not duplicate any name previously recorded by any other user, nor the name of any tartan recorded by the Scottish Register of Tartans or any other body whose authority we recognise. 

We also suggest names should be unique and personal, and should not assert any claim to wider authority without justification. Thus we advise against the naming of any new design as if it represents any commercial company, organisation, geographic entity, clan, or generic family name, unless it has the permission of authorised representatives of that entity. We don't enforce this as we're not in a position to. But in the event of any complaint, we reserve the right to remove illegitimate entries without explanation, our judgement being final.

Scottish tartan name conventions

Hve you ever wondered how tartans are named? What's the story behind the names of these beloved patterns? The naming of tartans is a fascinating process, steeped in history and tradition. Each tartan has its own unique name, which typically reflects the clan, family, or region with which it is associated.

But if you've ever explored the names of traditional tartans, you'll perhaps have got a little confused! There are a lot of conventions that different influences have adopted over the centuries, but very few rules.  To help you make sense of all this, we've written a wee article about Scottish tartan name conventions which may help you.

Clan, District, Personal, & other tartan descriptors

You'll probably also have noticed that many tartans have both a surname or clan name then one or more descriptors such as Hunting or Regimental. These are far from consistently applied, but there are some patterns to it (pardon the pun) which you may find helpful to read more about in our article on traditional tartan descriptors, We especially recommend reading that article if you're considering recording your design with the SRT, as they apply stricter rules than we do.

Modern, Ancient, Reproduction, & other colourways

Now, although these appear in fabric names, they aren't actually part of the tartan name. The tartan is defined by its sett or pattern, in basic colours, and not by the shades it is produced in. So don't include these in your name. And yes, if you want to understand this better, we've another article on traditional tartan colourways.