ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1581 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1581 ************************************ 6 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether , meaning something like "William the Black Ram" or "William of Clan Black Ram" would be an appropriate name for a Scottish Gaelic man living between 900 and 1250. Here is what we have found. In your period, several languages were spoken in the area that is Scotland today. Before the 12th century, the dominant language was Gaelic, the same language spoken in Ireland at this time. There were some Old English speakers in the southeast, and Norse settlements in the far north and the western isles. Norman immigrants arrived in Scotland in the 12th century, settling mostly in the south and bringing their dialect of Old French. These languages were all very different and had different naming customs. There was some mixing of names across cultural lines, but most names were not adopted into all of the cultures. You said you want a Gaelic name, so we'll concentrate mostly on that possibility. The name was carried to the British Isles by the Normans, so it would not have been available in England until the late 11th century and in Scotland until the 12th [1]. That puts an early limit on the historical possibility of a man in Scotland named . The name was very popular among Norman families, and was eventually adopted into Gaelic as , with roughly the same pronunciation [2], but we're not sure exactly when that happened in Scotland. We wouldn't be surprised to see the Gaelic name before 1250, but we don't have any hard evidence of it until the 14th or 15th century [6]. There was considerable intermarriage between Gaelic and Norman families in the 12th and early 13th centuries, so a Gaelic family with Norman connections is not unlikely to have used in this period. In most circumstances, a man in medieval Gaelic society would have been known as his father's son. Uilliam son of Aodh mac Donnchaid would have been known as which simply means "Uilliam Aodh's son". Clans existed among the Gaels, but clan membership was not indicated in peoples' names. The modern Scottish clan surnames did not exist in period. If you'd like to choose a name for your father so that you can construct a surname, you can find a good list on the web: 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 This list is derived from medieval Irish sources, but most of the names were probably also used by Gaels in Scotland. The byname you asked about, , is a correct Gaelic translation of "black ram", but it is not the sort of surname that Gaels used in the Middle Ages. They did use simple descriptions like "black" or "fair", but they very rarely named themselves after animals and we have found no compound byname like [3]. The closest authentic Gaelic name that we can recommend is something like "Black Uilliam, son of Aodh". On the other hand, if you're willing to move your persona to an English-speaking area, then your name would be much more appropriate. After the Norman Conquest, was one of the most common English names [1], and we've found 13th and 14th century English surnames analogous to "Black Ram". Some examples are [4]: Blaklambe 1348 Gralamb 1270 Whitecou 1327 Whitehors 1331 Whitlamb 1346 These name were probably given to men who owned notable black lambs, white horses, etc. We also found examples of as a byname in 1188 and 1212, so we believe that is a fine 13th century English name. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Effric neyn Kenneoch. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 6 Apr 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. William. [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Uilliam. [3] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). [4] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK Gleerup, date unknown). [5] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Ram. [6] Skene, William F., "Genealogies of the Highland Clans, Extracted from Ancient Gaelic MSS.: 1. Gaelic MS. Written circa A.D. 1450, with a Translation,", pp 50-62, and "Genealogies of the Highland Clans, Extracted from Ancient Gaelic MSS.: 2. Gaelic MS. Written circa A.D. 1450, continued," pp. 357-60, _Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis consisting of Original Papers and Documents Relating to the History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_, ed. The Iona Club (Edinburgh: Thomas G. Stevenson, 1847). The manuscript contains three examples of , different people within one clan genealogy at the first, second, and fourth generations. The oldest of these examples is probably 14th century.