ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1365 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1365 ************************************ 10 Dec 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or would be an appropriate name for a 13th to 15th century Irishman. You also asked for information about the Cooley family arms, a red lion on a white background. Here is what we have found. , , and are English names, and is an English spelling of one of several Irish surname. There were Englishmen living in Ireland in your period, so an English name would be perfectly appropriate. Even if you were a Gaelic-speaking Irishman, your name could have been recorded in English records in an English form, so these names might still be appropriate. However, in this last case you'd primarily use your name in its Gaelic form, which would have been quite different. is the modern English form of the biblical name that was in Latin. In your period, the modern spelling was only one of many that were used in English. We found these examples [2]: Jone 1270, 1327 Jene 1275 John 1279, 1311 Jon 1292, 1327 Gene 1292 Johan 1379 The same Latin name came into Irish in two forms: and , pronounced \yOAN~\ and \SHAWN\. \N~\ is the sound of the in or the in the French word . was the earlier Gaelic form of the name, adopted into Irish directly from Latin . The second form was a 12th or 13th century Irish adaptation of the Norman name . The slash in represents an accent over the preceding letter [3]. is another biblical name, common in England after the Norman Conquest. It appears in English as in 1275, in 1317, and in the short forms 1311, 1301, 1327, 1379, 1379 [2, 4]. The name was adopted into Gaelic as , pronounced \TOE-mahs\, and was reasonably common in Ireland after the Norman settlement. We found two 14th century nicknames for , \TOE-mahk\ and \TYOHM-@-keen\ [3]. \@\ is a schwa, the last sound in . is an English name of Norman origin. As with , appears in various spellings in our period. We found it recorded in these English examples [2]: Galterus de Lingedraper 1210 Walter Thomas 1275 Walterus filius Jone 1270 Geoffrey Walter 1296 William Walters 1327 Johan fitz Waulter 1350 The name was also recorded (and pronounced) and , and developed nicknames including 1379 and 1252 [2, 4]. After the Norman settlement of Ireland, was adopted into Gaelic as , later spelling , both pronounced somewhere between \WAH-tyair\ and \WY-tyair\. The sound \ty\ is very close to \ch\. The name also appeared as \WAHL-tyair\, and in nicknames as and , pronounced \WATT-een\ and \BAHT-een\ [3]. or is an English spelling of one of several Irish surnames. In some cases it derives from or , both of which were anglicized and . In other cases, is a variation of , which comes from . is also a shortened version of which derives from the Gaelic . The similar is also an English surname imported to Ireland in the 16th century [1]. An English-speaking man early in your period, living in England or in Ireland, could have been known as his father's son or his grandfather's grandson e.g. or . He could also have been known by a surname, e.g. . He might even used all these names interchangeably, but probably only one at a time. An Gaelic-speaking man of your period would primarily have been known as his father's son, e.g "Sea/n son of Toma/s". Which sort of name is right for you depends on what culture you choose for your persona. There are obviously too many possibilities to list them all; when you settle on one of them, feel free to write us to verify that you've got the details right. Gaelic grammar and pronunciation, in particular, can be tricky. We could not verify that any family named uses a red lion on a white background [5]. Even if one does, we do not recommend copying their arms for Society use: Most modern heraldry was created after our period. Even if these arms existed in period, it would not be appropriate for you to use them: Although modern Irish heraldic custom allows all members of a clan to share the clan arms, that was not the case in period. Arms belonged to individuals, not families, so you would be copying the arms of someone who actually existed in history. If you do find a period set of arms that belonged to your ancestor, then you could use a variant as your Society arms. A red lion on a white field is a fine basic design for your period, and it wouldn't be hard to design a sufficiently-different variant, though if you want to register your arms, you'll have to be careful to avoid conflict with the arms of the kingdom of Leon "Argent, a lion rampant gules". If you'd like our help designing historically-appropriate arms, let us know. We 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 10 Dec 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.nn. Cooley, Cowley, Colley, Kilcooley. [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. John, Thomas, Thomazin, Walter, Watkin. [3] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Uater, Tomas, Seaan. [4] Talan Gwynek, "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/yorkshire/ [5] Our main sources for period heraldry in the British Isles list many families bearing some form of red lion on a white field, but none named [6, 7]. A modern roll of Irish arms shows a family Condon bearing "Argent, a lion rampant gules" and a family Colley bearing "Or, a lion rampant gules ducally gorged Or." The same source has Cowley "Argent, a lion rampant gules with a bordure sable mullety azure [sic]", and McAuley "Argent, a lion rampant and in chief two hands appaumy gules". Please note that this is not a very reliable source, and at best it is only a record of _modern_ arms, not period arms. "Heraldic Scroll and Map of Family Names and Origins of Ireland" (Dublin: Mullins of Dublin, no date). [6] Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977). [7] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992).