ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1550
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1550
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14 Feb 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Lilandra> is a period name, and in particularly whether
<Lilandra of Sheep Rock> is an appropriate Highland Scottish name.  This
letter is a brief answer to your question.

As far as we can tell, the name <Lilandra> was invented for a character in
the X-Men comic books, <Empress Lilandra Neramani> [5].  We found no
example of the name earlier than the appearance of this character.

The most similar Scottish woman's given names that we can suggest are
<Lillias> or <Lily> [1].  In English, <Lily> or <Lylie> is a pet form of
<Elizabeth>, recorded as early as the 13th century.  <Lillias> or <Lilias>
probably also originated as pet forms of <Elizabeth>, though all these
names were also influenced by the word <lily>, the name of a flower that
was an important Christian symbol.  <Lillias> was used in Scotland in the
16th century, however it is important to note that it was a Scots name, not
Gaelic [2, 3].  Scots is a language closely related to English that was
spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland from the 14th century.  Gaelic was
spoken in the Highlands and in Ireland in this period.  We found no Gaelic
woman's name that sounds similar to what you want.  If you would like more
help choosing a historically-appropriate Gaelic name, please write us again
or consult the articles in the Scottish and Irish sections of our medieval
names website:

	http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names

The phrase <Sheep Rock> does not appear to be a very likely English or
Scots place name.  The word <rock> was rarely used in place names in these
languages.  However, we think it is perfectly reasonable to create a name
with the same meaning by using the word <stone> or one of its variants
<-stan> and <-stane> [4].  The Old English word <sceap> or <scip> "sheep"
shows up in place names near the Scottish border in the form <Ship->,
<Skip-> and <Skibe->, so we can recommend <Shipstone>, <Skipstan>, or the
like as an invented place name along the border.  <Lilias de Shipstane>
would be a fine late-period woman's name for this region.


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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Teceangl Bach,
Alan Fairfax, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  14 Feb 1999


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Notes & References

[1] You may also come across the modern name <Leandra>.  We do not
recommend using it as a Society name.  There was a Saint Leandro, bishop of
Cartagena, who lived in the 6th century.  The name does not appear to have
remained in use in Spain or elsewhere, and we can find no evidence that it
was femininized as <Leandra> in period.

[2] Morgan, Peadar, _Ainmean Chloinne: Scottish Gaelic Names for Children_
(Scotland: Taigh na Teud Music Publishers, 1989).

[3] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_,
3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).

[4] Smith, A.H., _English Place-Name Elements_ (Cambridge: At the
University Press, 1956), s.vv. sceap, stan.

[5] "Lilandra Neramani" (WWW)
http://www.geocities.com/~x-master/lilandra.html