Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba
national advisory partnership for Gaelic place names in Scotland
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈɛnɛmən ˈaːʰtʲə nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]; "Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland") is the national advisory partnership for Scottish Gaelic place names in Scotland. Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba are based at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye.
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba research and agree on place names, using local knowledge, historical sources and the principles of the Gaelic Orthographic Conventions. These names are used by local councils, roads authorities and the Ordnance Survey for signs and maps. A National Place-Names Database containing over 3,000 entries was launched in August 2010.
History
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba began as the Gaelic Names Liaison Committee, established in 2000 by the Ordnance Survey to improve consistency in Gaelic names on their mapping products. The committee expanded to become the Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba partnership in 2006.
Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba works in partnership with Argyll and Bute Council, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Historic Environment Scotland, Ordnance Survey, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Place-Name Society, Highland Council, the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, and the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba” is national advisory partnership for Gaelic place names in Scotland. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ainmean-Àite, h-Alba and national, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “national advisory partnership for Gaelic place names in Scotland” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q235848. VIAF identifies the subject as 1427156677152533770004. The Library of Congress control number is no2019116100. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2010, 2000 and 2006.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba primary sources, Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba archive and Ainmean-Àite research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.