ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1145 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1145 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: 7 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us asking for the 16th century Scottish Gaelic form of , for use as a masculine name. Since you indicated that you had not read Scottish Names 101, we'll begin by pointing out that there was not a single uniform culture in 16th century Scotland. Rather, there were two primary cultures, each with its own language and system of naming. These are Gaelic (the same language as that spoken in Ireland) and Scots (a language closely related to contemporary English). Gaelic was spoken primarily in the Highlands while Scots was spoken primarily in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. Gaelic Scotsmen did not use inherited surnames or clan identification as part of their personal names in our period, so would not be a clan name. The name comes from Gaelic , meaning "son of Gregory", and this was the standard pattern of forming bynames in Gaelic Scotland. Rather than having an inherited surname, you would use a phrase indicating the name of your father. We found the following spellings of in Scotland in the 16th century [1]: 1500 1586 1600 1600 However, all of these have probably been Anglicized, so these spellings are not compatible with a Gaelic form of your name. Likewise, the name is an English form of the Irish name [1]. We can't find any example of this name in Scottish records, so it may not have spread from Ireland to Scotland. If was used at all in Scotland, then "Bre/anainn son of Griogar" is a plausible Gaelic name. We do know that the similar-sounding name was used in Scotland in your period, so would be a better choice [1,2]. If you have not yet read Scottish Names 101 since you wrote to us, then we recommend you do so. The information given there will certainly help you better understand the basics of Scottish names and language. This page may be found at the following location: http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scot_names_101.html We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, and Effrick neyn Kenneoch contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986) s.nn. MacGregor, MacBrenyn. [2] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 20 Mar 2002, Arval: The 16th century spellings of cited from Black were incorrect.