Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†SLOG-NAME, n. Also slug-name. A nick-name or by-name used to distinguish between persons of the same surname living in close proximity with one another. The practice of giving slog-names is specially common in Sc. fishing villages where local inter-marriage leads to great confusion in names. [′slʌg-]Sc. 1833 Chambers's Jnl. (Dec.) 364:
The most singular is, that, among one hundred and sixty families in the fishing village, there are only about a dozen surnames . . . accordingly, most of the inhabitants have what are called slog-names, or styles by which they are designated.Fif. 1860 H. Farnie Fife Coast 109:
The great majority of the fisherman are Logies, Thomsons, or Robertsons. The confusion arising in consequence is endless, but is somewhat mitigated by the extensive use of slug-names, or in English, nicknames.
