ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1320 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1320 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "S Friedemann" 22 Nov 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help finding feminine Manx names that were used between 1000 and 1300. Here is the information we have found. As you have noticed, the sources for Manx names in period are very slim. While we have access to some, all of our information comes from the 15th century and later. We hope that this will be useful anyway. Prior to the 15th century, most residents of Man spoke a dialect of Gaelic which eventually developed into a separate language called Manx Gaelic. These Gaelic speakers generally had names similar to those used in Ireland. For much of this time, however, the island was under Norse rule, and the language of the court was a dialect of Old Norse. As a result many Scandinavian names were also in general use, though some of them were modified a bit to fit Gaelic speech patterns. By the 14th century there were also some English-speaking landlords who had ordinary upper-class English names. We're assuming that you are interested in Manx names; if you would like information about Norse and English names, please write us again. In one list of Manx names from 1511-15 [1], we find the following women's names, arranged from most common to least: Cristen, Cristian: 24 Johnet: 17 Marion: 16 Calyhony: 15 Margaret & Kateryn: 7 each Agnes, Alice, Mariot, Isabell: 6 each Ibot(t): 5 Calyvorri: 3 More, Calibrid, Sessott, Sissott, Calycrist, Mawde: 2 each Johna, Blaunch, Edith, Cecilia, Isott, Matilda, Vorgell, Katerina, Elena, Bahee, Lucy, Aedyt, Calypatric: 1 each In some court records from 1417-8, we found a few feminine names [1]: Caleaghony de Yvenow Ibot filia Bris Marion Nie Mackoui, also recorded as Maria Nie Mackoui Marion wife of Patric souter We have virtually no written evidence of Manx names from your period. If anyone recorded a Manx name in a document, it would probably be in the Gaelic form common to Ireland and Scotland. For example, would probably have been recorded in Gaelic as at the earlier end of your period. (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter). If you'd like to know the Gaelic form for any of the other names we've listed, please write us again. Manx names were formed along the same lines as Irish names. In Ireland, a person was primarily known as their father's son or daughter. For example, was "Mo/r, daughter of Tadhg." (This is the same name that we gave in the previous paragraph, spelled as it would have appeared after 1200 or so.) In the Isle of Man, the Manx equivalent of was [2]. The same Irish example we used above might have been recorded in Manx as [2]. This is pronounced \MORE IN-ye TEGG\. 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 Talan Gwynek, Teceangl Bach, Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Margaret Makafee, and Ceatta o Gulcleth. For the Academy, --Arianuia filia Catmaili November 22, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Kneen, J.J. "The Personal Names of the Isle of Man." London: Oxford University Press, 1937. [2] Quilliam, Leslie. Surnames of the Manks (Peel, Isle of Man: Cashtal Books, 1989). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in 'n', like , the letters 'D' and 'T' do not lenite.