ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1395 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1395 ************************************ 14 Dec 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a period Gaelic masculine name with as your given name, as your father's name. Here is what we have found. Pre-1600 Gaelic naming, in both Ireland and Scotland, was very different from modern naming in those countries. Many names used today did not exist in period, and many names used in period are no longer used today. The basic structure of names was very different, too. You can find information about how Gaelic names were constructed in various articles on our web sites (some of which you may already have read): Scottish Names 101 http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/scotnames101.html A Simple Guide to Constructing 12th Century Scottish Gaelic Names http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/simplescotgaelicnames12.html Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ was not a given name in our period, and it is not a Gaelic name at all. It was an English or Scots surname [1]. Scots is a language closely related to English, distinct from Gaelic, that was spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland roughly from the 14th century onward. Scots names were formed very differently from Gaelic names. For example, if you want a late-period Lowland persona, then a name like would be entirely appropriate. is actually not derived from . It is an incorrect anglicization of the Gaelic name , which is more often anglicized as . The name was used in Scotland from the 12th century in English and later in Scots. We found , son of 1166, 1424, 1562 [2]. In the last name, the <3> represents the letter , which was used in Middle English and Scots in period. It is pronounced here like the in . If you would like to choose a Scottish Gaelic name, you'll need to choose an appropriate given name for yourself and another for your father. If you can tell us what letter or sound you'd like each name to begin with, we'll be happy to send you a list of possibilities. 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 Effrick neyn Kenneoch. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 14 Dec 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. MacDonald, Daniel.