ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1203 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1203 ************************************ 29 Aug 1998 From: Braddon Giles Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us asking if the name would be correct for an Irish woman in period. Here is what we found. was relatively common in medieval Ireland and remained in use down to the 19th century. It is a very good choice for a first name, and was pronounced \SUR-kha\, with the \U\ as in , and the \kh\ represents the sound of as in the Scottish or German . Other possible names beginning with , with pronunciations, are as follows [1]: \SIVE\ (like \hive\) \SLAHN-yeh\ \SHEE-vahn\ (from the Norman ) \SHEE-bayl\ (from the Norman ) \SHEE-leh\ (from the Norman is an English form of the Gaelic family name . literally means "[male] descendent of Gallchobhar", but in practice it meant "[male] member of the O/ Gallchobhair clan". Women used these family names by calling themselves the daughters of their fathers. The Gaelic word for is pronounced \IN-yen\. Gaelic grammar slightly changes the spelling and pronuciation of names, depending on how they're used. To show that you are your father's daughter, his name changes into the possessive form, just as is the possessive of in English. Sometimes there is another grammatical change, a softening of sounds called "lenition". We'll show you how your name is "lenited". For example, if you were the daughter of , a descendent of , his name could be , and you could be called . Your name is pronounced \SUR-kha IN-yen VRAK-ahn ee GHAHL-khoo-@r\, where \@\ is a schwa, which is the first vowel sound in . You will notice that the surnames have changed in this case to become possessive, by the addition of an "i" near the end, and the first letters are lenited or softened by the addition of the "h" after them. For a shorter form of your name, you could also be called , which effectively means "Sorcha of the O/ Gallchobhair clan". The name is pronounced \SUR-kha IN-yen ee GHAHL-khoo-@r\. For your full, formal name, you may choose your father's first name. We have an excellent source of pre-1200 Gaelic masculine names, and suggest that you look here to help your choice: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ Gaelic grammar and pronunciation are a little tricky, so please contact us again once you've chosen your father's given name and we'll be happy to complete the possessive case and lenition for you. 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, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegen and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Giles Leabrook. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press,1990). [2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation) s.n. Gallagher.