ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1074 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1074 ************************************ From: 23 Jul 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us about the name , meaning "Gavin, son of Aidan," as an English masculine name used between 1000-1600. The name derives from French , and was fairly common as both an English and French name in the Middle Ages. We found the following spellings in English [1]: Gawyne 1273 Gawyn 1379 Gawin 1530 Gavin 1604 The spelling is typically French; the English spelled the name with a 'w', though as you can see, we found a single spelling with a 'v' at the end of our period. This same spelling is recorded from Lowland Scotland in 1577 [3, s.n. Rais]. If you want an English persona, then would be a fine choice any time after the Norman Conquest. If you particularly want the spelling , then you should set your persona in the late 16th century. The name is a modern English form of the Gaelic name or ; the slashes represent accents on the preceding vowels. The Gaelic form of this name was relatively common in early Ireland (pre-10th century), and although it is possible that it survived later in period, we do not find evidence that it did. Several sources tell us that it was revived in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so its modern popularity doesn't tell us anything about period usage [1,2,3,4]. The name was transferred to Old English in the form , but that name does not appear to have continued in use past the Norman Conquest [1, s.n. Aidan]. There is thus a span of more than 800 years between the use of the two elements in your name, making the combination historically unlikely at best. The name element does indeed mean "son of", but only in Gaelic; it is not an English construction. Howver, some Gaelic speakers from Ireland and Scotland did move to England, where their names were sometimes used in English forms [5]. We cannot find any form of used in your period. The closest we find are variants of , an English form of the Gaelic , meaning "son of Aodhaga/n". We found the following spellings, all dated to the late 16th century [4]. The is an abbreviation of : M'Kegane M'Keagan M'Kiegane M'Egaine M'Hegane The combination of and is likely to have been borne only by an Irishman of English descent or by the descendent of an Irish immigrant to England. In either case, we expect the name could have existed only quite late in period. If you want your persona to be a 16th century Anglo-Irishman, then might be a reasonable name. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Talan Gwynek, Barak Raz, and Arval Benicoeur contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] E. G. Withycombe, _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) s.n. "Gawain" [2] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986) [3] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) [4] Patrick Woulfe, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation) [5] P.H. Reaney & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) see entries under "Mc-" and "Mac-".