ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1103 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1103 ************************************ From: 2 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us about , , or as a feminine Irish name for the period 1250 to 1400. You also wanted a byname meaning "daughter of the bard". Unfortunately, we have found no evidence for , in any spelling, as a feminine Irish name in period. It was a fairly common name in Ireland in the 19th century [1], but we have no sources that say when the name was first used, or whether it was used at all before 1600. The name or is a masculine name in early Irish literature, and so would not be appropriate as a woman's name [1,2]. Since we could not document , here are a few popular Irish names that you may want to consider, some which are very easy to pronounce Irish names, and some which begin with 'A'. (The '/' represents an accent over the preceding vowel.) Popular Irish names that are easy to pronounce [1,3]: Mo/r \MOHR\ Nuala \NOO-ah-lah\ U/na \OO-nah\ The following were common Scottish Gaelic names beginning with 'A' [1]: Aodhnait \UGH-nitch\ [4] Aoibhinn \EE-vin\ or Aoibheann \EE-vyahn\. Ailbhe \AHL-veh\ A/ine \AH-nyeh\ Ailis \AH-lish\ (a Gaelic form of ) If you intend your byname to mean "daughter of a man who is a bard", then this is easily constructed as . The pronounciation of Irish changed somewhat during your period, and will therefore depend on the specific time you choose. Closer to 1250, the pronounciation would be \IN-yen ahn VARD\, and later \IN-yen ahn WARD\ or \IN-yen a WARD\. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, and Arval Benicoeur contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) [2] M.A. O'Brien (ed.), _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976) [3] Brian O/ Cui/v, _Apects of Irish Personal Names_ in _Celtica_, vol.18 (1986), pp.151-184. [4] The \U\ is roughly the sound of 'u' in . The \GH\ represents the voiced sound corresponding to unvoiced \KH\. Say \KH\ while running your vocal cords, where \kh\ represents the harsh, rasping sound in Scottish or German ; \GH\ is the voiced version of the same sound.