ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1076 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1076 ************************************ From: 25 Jul 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote that you found an 11th century Norman knight named , and that you want a name suitable for the Irish grand-daughter of this man. You also wrote that you want to use a feminine form of . We'll discuss that last question first. We did find feminine forms similar to in both English and French. Those in French are pronounced much more like than English forms: Old English spellings, circa 1100 [1]: (3 times) (2 times) Latinized form: French forms: 1292 [2] 1292 [2] 1379 [3] as a form of Old French The French forms are probably pronounced \ow-b@-RAY\, where \@\ is the schwa sound of the in . The pronunciation indicated by the English spellings, on the other hand, is \ahl-BRAY-dha\ (with \dh\ like the in ). In the names above, the letter {dh} is an 'edh' and the {th} is a 'thorn' [4]. While these are not feminine forms of , which is an Old/Middle French form of the masculine Old German , they are pronounced much like the name you wanted. An Anglo-Norman woman could certainly have lived in Ireland after the Norman settlement of part of that island, since Henry II of England invaded Ireland in 1171 [5]. However, given the timespan involved, it is unlikely that a man in his prime in 1066 could have had a daughter who lived in Ireland, or a grand-daughter who was born and lived there 100 years later. Your persona could certainly be descended from , but would not likely have been only two generations removed. Please note that the web page where you found the name is a modern transcription of its source. That is, the spellings of given names have been modernized in at least some cases. Based on other sources, we think the original recorded form for the knight you mention was [6]. We found a few examples of the name [6]. Any of these spellings would be appropriate for your period: 1086 (the same one you found on the web) 1121-35 1303 We do have some evidence that members of the family moved to Ireland by the late 16th century [7], but we cannot say when this occurred. You also asked about the word as used in names. This is Gaelic for "daughter", and would have been used as in , meaning "Ailbe daughter of Conchobar." The use of was limited to completely Gaelic names in your period, and so should not be combined with a French or Anglo-Norman given name like or . The most authentic choices for you would be , for a 12th century Norman woman living in Ireland, or for a 14th century Anglo-Irish woman. In your period, many records were written in Latin. In Latin, your name might be written . Any of these names could have been borne by a descendant of , though probably not by his grand-daughter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Talan Gwynek, Margaret Makafee, Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] Cecily Clark's papers in the Jackson collection: 'British Library Additional MS. 40,000, ff. 1v-12r' [2] Colm Dubh, _An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris_ (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [3] Talan Gwynek, _Feminine Given Names in "A Dictionary of English Surnames"_ (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994) s.n. Albereda http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/ [4] The 'edh' looks like a backwards 6 with a crossbar; the letter 'thorn' looks like a a 'b' and 'p' that have been superimposed so that the ascender of the first blends into the descender of the second. [5] "Ireland" Britannica Online. [Accessed 06 July 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/294/22.html [6] P.H. Reaney & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Vere. [7] Patrick Woulfe, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation)