ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1327
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1327
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
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27 Oct 1998
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for help documenting <Bran Stefan O'Neill> or <Stefan O'Neill> as
a 10th century Irish masculine name.  Here is what we have found.

Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers.
We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the
historical cultures they are trying to re-create.  Our research can
sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that
it not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's
needs.  If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not
be able to help you.  

<Bran>, pronounced \BRAHN\, was quite popular in early medieval Ireland [1,
2].  It is a fine choice for your period.

<Stephanus> was rarely used in Ireland until it was imported by the
Anglo-Normans [1].  There was an early Irish saint <Stephan> [4], but his
name does not appear to have been adopted widely.  We wouldn't expect to
see it used except as a religious vocational name.  Otherwise, the name
appears in Ireland as an adaptation of the Norman <Stefan>.  The 12th or
13th century form is <Stiamna>, pronounced \STEE@v-n@\, where \@\
represents schwa, the first vowel sound in <about>.  Other spellings of
this name are found later, but those are even further removed from your
period.

<O'Neill> is an English spelling of the Irish name <u/a Ne/ill> [3].  Each
slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.  <U/a Ne/ill> a fine
choice for your period.

The Irish did not use double given names or middle names in our period.  A
man of your period was usually known by his given name, and as his father's
son.  For example, <Bran> the son of <Ae/d> would generally have been known
as <Bran mac Ae/da>.  The change in spelling of <Ae/d> puts the name into
the possessive form, just as <John's> in the possessive form of <John> in
modern English.  Unfortunately, the formation of possessive forms in Old
Irish was very irregular; there is no single, simple rule.  If you'd like
to choose a name for your father, you can find a good list in reference
[2], which is on the web.  The names in that list are given with their
possessive forms.  Once you choose one, you can write us again for the
correct pronunciation.

A 10th century Irishman might have been known by his clan as well as by his
father's name.  If <Bran mac Ae/da> were a member of clan U/a Ne/ill, then
he might have been called <Bran mac Ae/da ui/ Ne/ill>, pronounced \BRAHN
mahk AY-dha ee N^AYL^\ or perhaps as <Bran u/a Ne/ill> \BRAHN oo@ N^AYL^\.  
The \dh\ in the pronunciation is the sound of <th> in <this>, \N^\ is the 
sound of <ny> in <nyah-nyah>, and \L^\ is the sound of <lli> in French 
<million> 'million'.


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
preparing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and Aryanhwy
merch Catmael.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  28 Oct 1998


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References

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

[2] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "100 Most
Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998).
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100

[3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic
Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3).

[4] O/ Riain, Pa/draig, ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_
(Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985). 

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Correction, 10 September 2006, Aryanhwy: Corrected pronunciation of
<Ne/ill>.