ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1474 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1474 ************************************ 11 Jan 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for period Ireland. This letter is a brief answer to your question. Unfortunately, neither part of the name is correct for period Irish. was not a given name in period; it is an inaccurate modern attempt to re-construct the root of one of the Irish surnames or . Both surnames derive originally from the Gaelic masculine given name . The slash represents an accent over the preceding letter. That name was pronounced \AY-@-gahn\, where \AY\ is pronounced as in , and \@\ is a schwa, the last sound in . English speakers hearing the surname "son of Aodhaga/n" mistakenly grouped the \k\ sound in with the second word, and recorded it as [1]. In Manx, a similar process created the modern surname from the Gaelic [2]. We did not find any example of the surname in period Ireland, Scotland, or England. If you can tell us where you found it or what you intend it to mean, we may be able to discover more information. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Aelfwyn aet Gyrwum., Teceangl Bach, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 11 Jan 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.nn. Mac Aodhaga/in, O/ Caoga/in. [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Kegan.