ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1171 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1171 ************************************ From: 16 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us concerning the masculine Scottish name , meaning "Gilis, son of Ewan, of clan Sutherland". You were interested in the correct form for the period 1250-1350. We'd like to begin by reminding you that there was not a single, uniform language in medieval 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. This is important because the two cultures had different naming conventions, and also because a name could have been recorded either in a Gaelic spelling or a Scots spelling, but not in a mix of the two. is a Scots spelling of the Gaelic masculine given name , which is pronounced \GILL-yeh EE-sa\ [1]. This name is recorded in various spellings in Scots documents [2]: Gilise 1160 Gylis 1264 Gelyse 1376 Gylleis 1492 Gelis 1526, 1576 Gilleis 1538, 1596 is a Scots spelling of [3], and is a likely period spelling, but perhaps not as early as your period (1250-1350). So may be a fine Scots form of your name, and would be the Gaelic spelling. As for the element , clan names were not included in personal names in period Scottish Gaelic. Actually, is derived ultimately from a Scots (or even English) name . Further, it is a modern Gaelic back-formation meaning "of/from Sutherland", and should not be used with a preposition such as [4]. For all these reasons, we recommend dropping . 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] Symon Freser of Lovat, _13th & 14th Century Scottish Names_ (WWW: J. Mittleman) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/symonFreser/scottish14/ [2] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986) [3] ibid., s.nn. MacEwan, Eoghann [4] Edward Dwelly, _Faclair Gaidhlig: A Gaelic Dictionary_ (Herne Bay, England: E Macdonald & Co, 1902-11)