ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1085 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1085 ************************************ 15 Jul 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about used as an English name in the late 16th century. Here is what we have found. is the 33rd most common masculine name in one set of English records from your period [1]. We have never seen the spelling ; the name is usually found as . It was a very rare name in your period, but we do have four examples in London in 1565, 1579, 1581, and 1593 [2]. Either of these names would be a reasonable choice for your period, but we do not recommend that you use both of them. Middle names are almost universal in English today, but they were extremely rare in your period. It is particularly unlikely that someone would have been given two relatively unusual given names like . It would be much more typical of your period if you were to use only one of the given names. We haven't found examples of the surname in your period. We've found two possible origins for this name, one from Gaelic, the other from Old English. The Irish Gaelic name "[male] descendent of Suibhne" was recorded in English around 1600 in the forms and [6]. (The slash after the represents an accent.) The similar "son of Suibhne" has evolved into the modern surnames and [6], and we found a reference to in 1727 [3]. The 16th century is a bit earlier than we would have expected to find as a shortened, English form of or , but we think it's a possibility. It is also possible that could have arisen from Old English "swine island" or from "a creek, a channel" [4]. The first OE word has a long vowel, so one would expect it to have become something like , but names sometimes follow their own courses of development. There are modern surnames with short that apparently derive from OE 'swine' [5], so the change in length certainly isn't impossible. The second root has short /i/ and might well have produced . We do not find any evidence that and English surname or place name did in fact arise from one of these roots, but it is plausible to speculate that it might have done. In conclusion, we feel that or would be a reasonable late 16th century English name. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 15 Jul 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Talan Gwynek, "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/eng16/ [2] Brooke, J.M.S., and A.W.C. Hallen, A. W. C., _The Transcript of the Registers of the United Parishes of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch Haw, in the City of London, from their Commencement 1538 to 1760_ (London: Bowles & Sons, 1886). [3] "Canaletto" Britannica Online. [Accessed 06 July 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/101/15.html [4] Smith, A.H., _English Place-Name Elements_ (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1956). [5] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). [6] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -