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Greetings,
Here's the information we found on the proposed name "Uisdeann of Kinchyle" as used in 13th-century Scotland.
During your period, there were many languages spoken in Scotland. The three most significant are Scots, a language related to English which was spoken in urban areas; Gaelic, the same language spoken in Ireland, which was spoken primarily in rural areas; and Norman French, spoken primarily by the urban nobility much as it was in England. These three languages are not related to each other and have different naming conventions. Despite this, they did borrow names from each other. "Uisdeann" is an example--it's a Gaelic borrowing of the Norman name "Huchon." "Huchon" is a diminuitive form of the name "Hugh." Although "Uisdeann" and "Huchon" look very different, they're pronounced similarly and are esentially the same name. The same person might well be known as "Uisdeann" in Gaelic and "Huchon" or "Hugh" in Scots. In fact, the founder of Clann Uisdeann (and the first Gaelic-speaking person we know of named "Uisdeann") is called Hugh MacDonald in Scots records. This person is first mentioned as having led a raid in 1460; we can guess that he was born c. 1430-1440 and we know that he died in 1498, and he's the first person we know of who was called either "Uisdeann" or "Huchon" (and it appears that he was called both!) There is reason to believe that "Huchon" was used earlier, since one author says that it was a common name in the 14th century. (1) This is still later than your desired period. The original form "Hugh" is found as early as the 12th century among Scoto-Normans.
"Kinchyle" is probably a medieval place-name. We found references to "Kinchyle," although we're not sure how useful they are, and we believe that "Kinchyle" is probably a variant of the name "Kinkell," a name meaning "head of the wood" which is found in several areas in Scotland. Among the documented forms of the name, we found
All of these forms are Scots spellings of a Gaelic name. Thus, we can say that "of Kinchyle" (or the more common form "de Kinchyle") is likely for a Scoto-Norman and plausible for a Scots speaker, but highly unlikely for a Gaelic-speaker.
When considering your choices, you should first decide whether you're going to have a Gaelic, Scoto-Norman, or Scots-speaking persona.
If your primary interest is the name "Uisdeann," you'll need to choose a Gaelic-speaking persona from a later time period (1450 or later), and to find a Gaelic byname (most likely a name of the form mac <father's name>). If you're more focused on your time period, you could choose a Scoto-Norman persona (perhaps called "Hugh de Kinchyle") or a Gaelic-speaking persona with an altogether different name.
Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Lindorm Eriksson, Pedro de Alcazar, Rouland Carre, and Arval D'Espas Nord all contributed to this letter.
We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you in finding a name.
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel
(1) Black, G. "The Surnames of Scotland," HUCHEON
(2) Johnston, J. B. "Place-Names of Scotland." East Ardsley, England: S. R. Publishers, 1970