Sources

Auchtefie                 1600                        Retours (Wigton) 20
Auchtiffie                 1625                        Retours (Wigton) 63
Achtafy                    1654                        Blaeu Atlas
Auchtifie                 1684                        parish roll
Achtafee                 1747-55                   Roy
Auchtaphie              1782                        Ainslie
Auchlaphie              1821                        Ainslie
Auchtapie                1826                        Thomson

Additional Information

The stress of this name locally is on the last syllable, ‘ffie’, which suggest an article after ‘achadh’ or ‘uchd’, most likely ‘na’ as ‘fèith’ is feminine, with the ‘n’ being dropped in natural speech. ‘Aucht’ favours ‘uchd’ over ‘achadh’ as Gaelic ‘chd’ is often interpreted as ‘cht’ in Scots and would explain the persistent ‘t’ appearing in the anglicised forms. This may also explain why the ‘n’ has been dropped in natural speech as ‘tn’ is a natural cluster to simplify.

There is a small hillock, marked on the OS map as Brown Hill and measuring 60m in height, on the east side of the croft. The dwelling itself is no longer there but the name is remembered locally.