ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1441 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1441 ************************************ 2 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a 15th century Scottish Gaelic masculine name, using as your given name and as your father's given name. Here is what we have found. In Scotland in your period, there were two main cultures, each with its own language: Gaelic in the Highlands and Scots in the Lowlands. Gaelic was the same language spoken in Ireland; Scots was closely related to English. Each language had its own naming practices and the two were not mixed. is an English form of a Norman name, but we haven't found evidence that it was used in Scotland. It was adopted into Irish Gaelic in the 12th century as , , and , and later spelled [1]. (The slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.) We haven't found examples of the name either in Scottish Gaelic or Scots in your period. The fairly-similar name was used in Scots [2]; if you're interested in details of that name, please write us again. is not a name. The surname is a modern English form of a Gaelic patronymic that was originally or "son of Ruimean" or "Rumun" [2]. When English speakers heard this name, they incorrectly transferred the \k\ sound in to the second element. If you'd like to consider some other possible Gaelic given names, you can find a couple lists on the web: A Simple Guide to Constructing 12th Century Scottish Gaelic Names http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/simplescotgaelicnames12.html 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 The spellings of many of these names are not appropriate for your period; if you find a few you like, we'll be happy to give you the appropriate spellings and pronunciations. Or, if you'd like to have a name beginning with a particular letter or sound, we'll be happy to send you a short list. If you'd like to consider an English or Irish name using some form of , let us know and we can help you with that, too. 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 Fergus Stout and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 2 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Gero/it. [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Gerard, Macrimmon.