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Greetings,
Here's the information we have on the name "Iain of Huntly."
In the fourteenth century, Scotland had two main languages. Scots, a language closely related to English, was spoken mainly in the geographic lowlands. Gaelic, a language very closely related to Irish, was spoken mainly in the geographic highlands, including parts of the south-west of Scotland. Also, in the very early part of the century, some nobles were still speaking Norman French. Scots and Gaelic had different naming conventions, and a "Scottish" name could be from either culture.
The name "Iain" is a modern form of the period Gaelic name "Eoin" (pronounced "oan" as in "moan.") "Eoin" has the same root as the name "John," which is used in English and Scots--both names are derived from the Latin name "Johannes."
Few Scottish records were written in Gaelic, so we have had to rely on records in the Scots language for our examples of "Eoin." When the patroynmic "mac Eoin" is referred to, the name appears in Scotslanguage records using the spelling "Ean", "Eane", "Ane", "Ayn", or "Aan," all of which would be pronounced "ane" or "ehn." When recording the name of a person named "Eoin," all the records we have found use "John." At times they combine "John" and "mac Ean." For example, in 1585 we find "John Roy M'Ean Vc Ewin Vc Dougall Vc Ean".
The pronunciation "ane" may indicate a Scottish variant in the Gaelic pronunciation of "Eoin" or may be the result of errors made by Scots speakers trying to record a Gaelic name. As far as we can tell, it seems that the pronunciation 'ee-an' (and the Gaelic spelling "Iain") dates only to the 19th century (see http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/iain.shtml for details).
According to "Surnames of Scotland" by George Black, the name "Huntly" is derived from the "ancient hamlet of Huntlie in Berwickshire, now extinct." The first citation we have is Robert de Hunteleghe (1296). (in the 14th century, most Scottish records were kept in Latin). Berwickshire, where Huntlie was located, is in the extreme south-east of Scotland and was a Scots-speaking area. "of Huntlie" (alternate spellings "Huntly", "Huntlee", or early 14th century "Hunteleghe") would be a reasonable byname for a Scots-speaker who either came from Huntlie or who belonged to the family that held Huntlie. In nearly all 14th century documents, however, it would be written as "de Huntlie" (or varations).
It's unlikely that "Ian of Huntly" would have been used in the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, people who had Scots bynames such as "of Huntly" were Scots-speakers and therefore had Scots personal names, so would have been called "John" instead of modern Scottish Gaelic "Ian" or period Gaelic "Eoin". Similarly, people who had Gaelic personal names such as "Eoin" would have been Gaelic-speakers and would have had Gaelic, not Scots, bynames. Thus, we would recommend using either "John of/de Huntlie", a plausible name for a Scots-speaking Lowlander, or developing a Gaelic byname to use with "Eoin." Whichever you choose to do, we will be happy to assist you.
Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, Arval D'Espas Nord, Walraven Van Nijmege, and Lindorm Eriksson all researched your name.
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel
Correction, Arval, Apr 2005: Revised the comments on Iain.