ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1284
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1284
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10 Oct 1998
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for help choosing am early 16th centry Scottish Gaelic feminine
name, with <Cairistiona> or <Caitriona> as your given name and <Seumas> as
your father's name.  Here is what we have found.

Both <Cairistiona> and <Caitri/ona> are fine choices for your period.  The
slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.  The Gaelic name
<Cairistiona>, pronounced \kah-ris-CHEE-na\, was recorded in Scots
documents in 1502 as <Cristiane> and in 1541 as <Karistina>, and in a Latin
document in 1541 as <Cristina> [1, 2].  The Gaelic <Caitri/ona>, pronounced
\kaht-REE-nah\, was recorded in a Gaelic document in 1467 as <Caitrina>.

<Seumas> is a Scottish spelling of the Gaelic <Se/amus>, an adapation of
<James> [3].  We aren't sure how early the spelling <Seumas> was used, so
we recommend you use the spelling <Se/amus> for your father's name.  The
name is pronounced \SHAY-m@s\, where the \@\ represents a schwa, the first
vowel sound in <about>.

To combine these two names, you connect them with the Gaelic word for
"daughter", <inghean>, which is used in the same way as the word for "son",
<mac>.  So, if your father was called <Se/amus mac Maelcoluim>, you would
be known as <Cairistiona inghean She/amuis> "Cairistiona daughter of
Se/amus".  The changes in the spelling of <Se/amus> are required by Gaelic
grammar.  The <i> in the last syllable puts the name into the possessive
form (analogous to the <'s> used in English), so that it means "of
Se/amus".  The <h> added after the initial <S> represents a softening of
the initial sound called "lenition" which is required in Gaelic in some
circumstances.  The resulting word is pronounced \HAY-mish\, so that your
name altogether is pronounced \kah-ris-CHEE-na NEE-yen HAY-mish\.

Gaelic was rarely used as a written language in Scotland in period, so if
your name had been written down, it would probably have been in Scots.  It
might have been written <Cristiane neyn Jamys>.


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 and Effrick neyn
Kenneoch. 

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  10 Oct 1998


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References

[1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and
History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Gilleduff.

[2] Ewen, C. L'Estrange, _A History of Surnames of the British Isles_
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1931; Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1968),
p.209. 

[3] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The
Lilliput Press, 1990).