ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1475 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1475 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: Rachel Cates 5 Mar 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked how to construct the full name of a Gaelic woman whose given name was and whose father's name was or, as a second choice, . You preferred a name suitable for the period before 1400 but were willing to go up to c.1500 if could not be justified for the earlier period. Here is the information we have found. From the late 14th century onward, there were two main languages spoken in Scotland: Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands, and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. Gaelic is the same language spoken in Ireland at this time; Scots is closely related to contemporary English. Names were formed quite differently in the two languages, and the two styles of naming did not mix. Most documents were written in Scots, however, even in Gaelic communities, so Gaelic names are usually recorded in Scots forms. You said you were interested in a Gaelic name, so that is what we will concentrate on. The name is a fine choice as your given name for c.1500. [1] It is a Gaelic borrowing of the name . That name was used by Norman settlers in Scotland in the early 13th century.[3] Unfortunately, we don't know how early it was borrowed by the Gaels, so we can't say how much earlier than 1500 a Gaelic is plausible. was pronounced \kah-ris-CHEE-n@\, where \@\ is the last sound in . Please note that it would be incorrect to pronounce the name \kah-ris-tee-OH-n@\. We haven't seen the form before, but it seems to be a phonetic variant of , which is the usual English spelling of the Gaelic name or .[2,3] This name was in use in Scotland by the 10th century and has remained in use ever since. It was pronounced approximately \M#L-KHOLL-@m\. The \#\ is produced by trying to say the vowel in with your lips in the position used to say the one in . The \@\ is the sound of the in and . The daughter of a man named would be called 'daughter of Malcolm'. (The extra in is required by Gaelic grammar. is the possessive of , just as is the possessive of .) If your given name is then you would be known as , pronounced \kah-ris-CHEE-n@ NEE-yen V#L-KHOLL-@m\. was the usual English spelling of in the 14th - 16th centuries. It is possible that it was also used in Scotland as a Scots spelling of the unrelated Gaelic name , but we don't know this to be the case. The daughter of a man named would be called , pronounced roughly \NEE-yen AHL-yen~\.[3] We hope that this letter has been useful to you. Please do not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Additional research and commentary on this letter was provided by Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael, Arval d'Espas Nord and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Eithni ingen Cormacc 5 Mar 1999 References [1] Arval Benicoeur, "Some Scottish Gaelic Feminine Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman 1998) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/scotgaelfem/ [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Ma/el Coluim. [3] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). s.nn. Malcolm, Macallan, Vallance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 4 Mar 2003, Arval: We originally used rather than . That spelling is modern Scottish Gaelic, taken from Peadar Morgan, _Ainmean Chloinne: Scottish Gaelic Names for Children_ (Scotland: Taigh na Teud Music Publishers, 1989). It is not a spelling we have found in period and we don't think it's plausible. , in Black s.n. Macallen, is more likely.