Meaning: Its source is an English expression meaning "Cleansing."

Languages: This boy's name is used in Hawaiian.

Narrative: It comes from the name of a river in Scotland.

Scholars believe that this and other Scottish place names were given to slaves in America in place of their African names as part of the policy of forced acculturation that characterized American slavery.

Despite this bleak association, the name remains popular among African Americans, and has spread to other ethnic groups as well.