ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1211 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1211 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 1 Sep 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You were interested in and , which you wanted to use as Scottish masculine names. Here is what we have found. is a later spelling of , a relatively common name in early Ireland. [1] The elements mean respectively 'crow, raven' and 'black.' However, we have not seen any instances of this name in Scotland, and so we recommend you consider a different name. is a combination of the Old English elements , also spelled , and <-wulf>, more commonly <-uulf>. [2,3] Both elements are very common in masculine names, making an excellent Old English name, alternately spelled and . [4] However, this is an Old English name. Old English was spoken in the southeast of Scotland before 1100 or so, but we doubt that survived in use much later than that. If you'd like to use this name, we'd be happy to help you choose a complete Old English name appropriate for this period. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Barak Raz, Talan Gwynek, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, --Arianuia filia Catmaili September 9, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [2] Stro:m, Hilmer, _Old English Personal Names in Bede's History: An Etymological-Phonological Investigation_, Lund Studies in English 8, (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup, 1939). [3] Boehler, Maria, _Die altenglischen Frauenamen_ (Nendlem, Liechtenstein: Krauss Reprint, 1967 [1930]). (45) [4] Searle, William George, _Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum_ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1897). 140-1