ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1107 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1107 ************************************ 25 Jul 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about , which you want to used as a Scottish name. Here is what we have found. Two important languages were spoken In late period Scotland: Gaelic and Scots. Gaelic, spoken primarily in the Highlands, was the same language that was spoken in Ireland, with slight dialectical variations. Scots, spoken in the Lowlands and towns, was a language closely related to English. The two languages were distinct and had very different naming practices which were not mixed in a single name. or was brought to Britain by the Normans. It was used in England in the 11th to 13th centurys [2]. It appears in Scottish records as early as the late 12th century, and was a frequent given name among Scots speakers in the 15th and 16th centuries. We found these examples from period documents [1]: Ade Quintinus about 1190-1220 Quentin Agnew 1484 Quynting Blak 1505 Quhintene Lokkie 1583 Quintine Prestoun 1596 Quhinten/Quihintein Thomssone 1606 Hesther Quintine 1605 Quaintein 1606 In a couple of these examples, a form of is used as a surname; in these case, the person's father's name was . The modern surname has several origins: * the Irish or , family names found in Galway and Sligo, respectively and brought to Scotland by immigrants [1, 3]; * the Irish family name "[male] descendent of the soldier" [3]; and * a diminutive form of the name [1]; * the English place [4]. The slash in some of the names represents an accent on the preceding letter. The Irish names were probably first anglicized as and later simplified to . In Scotland, the surname is found in 16th century records in several spellings [1]: John Fynne 1508 David Fynie 1509 David Fynne 1541 John Fynne 1551 Finney 1552 The spelling is recorded in 1640. All of these people appear to have been Scots speakers, not Gaels. is a fine name for a 16th century Scots persona. You could of course use any of the spellings we've listed above: , , etc. 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 and Barak Raz. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Jul 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Quintin, Finnie. [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.nn. Finney, Feeney. [4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Finney. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -