ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1489 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1489 ************************************ 21 Jan 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a Scottish Gaelic feminine name appropriate between 1350 and 1550, and wondered if would be correct. This letter is a brief answer to your question. is a Scottish Gaelic form of . We have evidence that the name used in Scottish Gaelic in the 15th and 16th centuries, when it is recorded in a Latin document as and in an English document as [1, 2]. We don't have a period example of the Gaelic spelling of the name, though; is the modern Gaelic spelling [3]. The name is pronounced \MAR-se-lee\. The modern surname is an English spelling of the Gaelic "son of the smith". In modern Scottish Gaelic, it is written , but we believe that this shorter form is a modern re-translation of the English name and that the definite article would have been part of the name in our period. The feminine form of this name is , pronounced \IN-yen @ GHO-wahn~\ at the beginning of your period, and \NEE-yen @ GHO-wahn~\ by the late 15th century [2]. \@\ represents a schwa, the last sound in . \GH\ is the voiced version of the rasping sound in or the German word . is the sound of in Spanish or the in French . In modern Scotland, a surname like is used to indicate clan membership. In period Scotland, this was not the case. Clans existed in the Highlands, in Gaelic society, but clan membership was not indicated in people's names. Bynames using and were used literally: A woman would have been called only if her father were a smith. If that's your intent, then we believe is a fine name for your period. 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 and Effrick neyn Kenneoch. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 21 Jan 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Munro, Jean and R. W. Munro, eds., _Acts of the Lords of the Isles 1336-1493_; Scottish History Society, Fourth Series, Volume 22 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, Pillans & Wilson, 1986), abstract B41. [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Fuktor, Africa. [3] Morgan, Peadar, _Ainmean Chloinne: Scottich Gaelic Names for Children_ (Isle of Skye, Scotland : Taigh na Teud Music Publishers, 1989).