ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1134 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1134 ************************************ From: 7 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us on behalf of your girlfriend, who is interested in the name as a feminine Irish name. You also asked about the Celtic for "Blue". Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. While our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, that it not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If having this name is more important to you than having a historical name, then you should consult another group (such as the heralds in your kingdom or the SCA heralds mailing list at http://listserv.aol.com/archives/scahrlds.html). The name immediately made most of our members think of "Gone With the Wind". Many people feel that a name with such a strong modern reference will tend to break the medieval mood for many people in the Society. You may want to reconsider your choice. The name is an English name derived from some Irish place-names. The original Irish name is , and was the wife of a 7th century king. Several place names are recorded as "Temair's hill" and such, using the possessive form or . It is this possessive form which may have given rise to the modern English name [1]. We have no evidence that the form itself was used as a woman's name before modern times, nor evidence that continued to be used in Ireland after the 7th century. as a given name is purely modern. It is a fine English surname or byname, originally referring to a dealer in "scarlet", a type of cloth [2]. It would not be an appropriate given name in our period. The name is recognizably Scottish, not Irish. It is a corruption of , meaning "son of Thorcall", where is a Gaelic form of a Norse personal name [3,4]. It is conceivable that this name could have developed in Ireland as well, but we have no evidence for this. In any case, the spelling is modern and English. Additionally, because means "son of Thorcall", this could not be used by a woman in period Gaelic. The correct feminine form is , meaning that you are the daughter of a man named . You also asked us about in Celtic. "Celtic" is the name for a whole family of languages, including not only Gaelic (which is spoken in Ireland and Scotland), but also Welsh, Cornish, and Manx. Since you're looking for an Irish name, we assume that you're most interested in Gaelic. The closest Gaelic word for "blue" is , which can describe either blue or green. We are not able to be more specific, since we aren't sure how you intended to make use of this in a name, but there are names which derive from the root word or . We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Charles O'Connor, Alan Fairfax, Arval Benicoeur, Margaret Makafee, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin 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] P.H. Reaney & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Scarlet [3] Edward MacLysaght, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985) [4] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986)