ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1288 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1288 ************************************ From: "Friedemann, Sara L" 28 Oct 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help documenting the Irish masculine name . Here is the information we have found. is an English form of the Gaelic name . That name may derive from a given name , but we have no evidence that such a name existed. Not all surnames derive from given names, but certainly looks like a given name. If it existed, it was extremely rare and probably used only in the early Middle Ages. If you'd like to consider more common Irish names, you can find a list on the web: 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname "son of Coinneach" [2]. Both spellings were originally pronounced \mahk KEN-yee\. originated in Scotland and was carried to Ireland by Scottish immigrants either very late in period or after 1600 [3]. The root name was used in early medieval Ireland in the form [4,5]. If you want an early medieval persona, then your father could well have been called and you could use the surname "son of Cainnech." we believe would be a possible early period Irish name. 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 Arval Benicouer, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan Gwynek, and Margaret Makafee. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael Caermyrdin October 28, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation). [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Mackelly, MacKenzie [3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3). [4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [5] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976)