Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 046

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 046

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/046

This is one of the Academy's earliest reports. We are not confident that these early reports are accurate. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here is the information we found on the name "Ailith."

In the sixteenth century, Scotland had two main languages. Scots, a language closely related to English, was spoken mainly in the geographic lowlands. Scottish Gaelic, a language closely related to Irish, was spoken mainly in the geographic highlands, including parts of the south-west of Scotland. Scots and Scottish Gaelic had different naming conventions, and a "Scottish" name could be from either culture.

Unfortunately, we didn't find a Scottish name "Ailith" or anything which matched the pronunciation "EYE-lish" that you were looking for. The name "Ailis" is an English variant of "Alice" and was pronounced "ay-lees," which isn't exactly what you want. The name "Alice" is also found in Scots, and would be an appropriate name for a Scots-speaking woman. However, we haven't found any sign of a name like "Ailith" in Scottish Gaelic.

The Irish used the name "Alis," (pronounced "Ahl-ish"), which is also a form of "Alice." However, this name was first used well after the Irish migration to Scotland, so we can't use this as evidence that the name was also used in Scottish Gaelic.

We can provide information about Scottish Gaelic women's names. We can provide some documented examples; if you're interested we can send some along. Alternatively, you could have a Lowland persona and use "Alice" with a Lowland Scots surname. (Unlike 16th century Gaels, 16th century Lowland Scots did have surnames.)

If your father's name was Duncan and your grandfather's name was Ian, your name would appear in different ways depending on the context. 16th-century Scottish records were not generally written in Gaelic, so any written form of your name would be recorded in Scots. The Gaelic pronunciation of your name is not quite the same as its written Scots rendering.

"Duncan" is the Scots rendering of the Gaelic name "Donnchadh." ("Donnchadh" is pronounced in Gaelic as 'dun-khagh', where the 'kh' represents the "ch" sound found in Scottish "loch." The 'gh' represents a sound that also does not exist in English, but which can be described as a 'g' made in the back of the throat.)

"Iain" is a modern form of the period Gaelic name "Eoin" (pronounced "oan" as in "moan.")

Gaelic patronymics were formed in the 16th century using the formula

<Personal Name> inghean <Father's name in genitive form> mhic <Grandfather's name in genitive form>

The "genitive" form of a name is the form used to indicate that the name is part of the phrase "of <name>." For example, "mhic" is the genitive form of "mac." The genitive form of "Donnchadh" is "Donnchaidh" (pronounced "dun-khee"). "Eoin" is not modified in the genitive form. Thus, "daughter of Duncan, son of Iain" would be written in Gaelic as

<Personal Name> inghean Donnchaidh mhic Eoin

This would be pronounced "<Name> nee-ehn Dun-khee vick Oan." The Scots rendering of this name would be "<Name> neyn Dunkie vc Ean." There are many possible variants of this rendering.

"neyn" was also written as niin

"Dunkie" (the Scots rendering of "Donnchaidh") could also be written as Dunke/Dunchie/Donchie/Donquhy/Dunquhy/Donquhie. It's also possible that the Scots would not have recorded the genitive form, and would have called you "neyn Duncan."

"vc" was also written as vic/vik

"Ean" was also written as Eane/Ane/Ayn/Aan.

Clan affiliations were not normally used by Gaelic-speakers as part of their name. "mac <clan name>" was often used as a title of the clan chieftain, and the children of the chieftain would sometimes be known as "mac mhic <clan name>" The clan name is usually a personal name, but not always--and, in fact, "Mackintosh" is an example of a clan not based on a personal name. The Gaelic name for the clan is "Clann an Toisich," meaning "Children of the Leader." The clan chieftain might call himself "Mac an Toisich," and his daughter could be called "inghean mhic an Toisich." However, these names would not be used by ordinary members of the clan.

Your name was researched by Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, with assistance from Elsbeth Anne Roth, Loveday, Arval D'Espas Nord, Tangwstyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Ivanor of Sighty Crag.

We hope this has been helpful. If you need any further assistance, please let us know.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel