ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1432 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1432 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 14 Feb 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an authentic Irish masculine name. Here is the information we have found. We'd like to commend you on your choice; is an excellent Irish name [1,2]. (The slashes represent accents over the previous letters). This spelling is appropriate from about 1200 on, and was pronounced \LOHKH-lahn~ oh MAIR-ahn~\. The \kh\ represents the hard, rasping "ch" sound in Scottish or German . Clan names such as only came into use in the 10th century, and the spellings listed above are typical for late period, after 1200. Prior to the 10th century, Irishmen were simply known as their father's sons. If you would like your persona to be set in early period, we recommend you go with a patronymic byname (surname identifying who your father was), instead of a clan name. A list of Irish names that would be authentic choices for your father's name can be found on the web at: "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ Additionally, if you want an early-period persona, the spelling of your name would need to be adjusted. If you are interested in this, please write again, and we can give you the appropriate spellings for your 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 Talan Gwynek and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael February 14, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990)., s.n. [2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation)., s.n.