ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1608 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1608 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "S Friedemann" 6 Jun 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help creating an Irish feminine name that would have been used between 1400 and 1700 with as the forename and as the clan name. Here is the information we have found. , or , was not used as a given name in Gaelic until modern times. Before 1600, names of major saints were not given to children in Gaelic; they were considered too holy for normal use. Instead, children were often named "servant of" or "devotee of" a saint. "devotee of Brigit" was a common early-medieval Irish woman's name. By your period, it was spelled or and was pronounced \mull VREE-djeh\, where \mull\ rhymes with [1]. The slash in the name represents an accent over the preceeding letter. A Gaelic woman of your period would have been known as her father's daughter. Maolbhri/ghde daughter of Fearghus would have been called . The word means "daughter" and is pronounced \IN-yen\. The changes in spelling in the father's name are required by Gaelic grammar. You can find the grammatical details on the web in the following article: Quick & Easy Gaelic Bynames http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~his016/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ If you would like to look at different names that were used during your period, we suggest the following article: Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century Irish Names and Naming Practices http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ is an English or anglicized name. Depending on the circumstances, may derive from a place in Westmoreland, an English short form of the name , or the Irish Gaelic clan name . [1,4] Since is an English rather than a Gaelic name, it would not be used with a Gaelic given name. However, is a Gaelic clan name, meaning literally "male descendent of Peata/n." is a diminutive of ; it becomes after as a result of the grammatical requirements of Gaelic. [3] The feminine form of this would be , meaning "daughter of O/ Peata/n." It is pronounced \IN-y@n EE FET-ahn\ or \IN-y@n EE FAT-ahn\. The \@\ represents the initial vowel sound in the word . is a fine Gaelic name. If you are more interested in using than in having a Gaelic name, then we recommend you choose an English name. The name was adopted into English in our period; we can suggest a number of English spellings: Bridget 1565, 1567 [2] Bridgett 1546, 1592 [2] Bridgitt 1581 [2] Brigit 1568, 1569, 1583 [2] Brigett 1554 [2] Brygett 1552 [2] Brygyt 1549 [5] Broget 1592-93 [5] A name such as would be an excellent late-period Englishwoman's name. It could also have been used by in Ireland by a woman of English decent. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan Gywnek, Arval Benicoeur, Naitan de Yerdeburc, Walraven van Nijmegen, Effrick neyn Kennyeoch, Elsbeth Anne Roth, and Mari Elspeth nic Bryan. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael June 6, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Brigit. [2] Brooke, J. M. S., and Hallen, A. W. C. The Transcript of the Registers of the United Parishes of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch Haw, in the City of London, from their Commencement 1538 to 1760 (London: Bowles & Sons, 1886). [3] For more details, see the explanation in "Quick & Easy Gaelic Bynames" http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~his016/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ [4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Patton. [5] Gray, Irvine and J. E. Gethyn-Jones, editors, _The Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock, 1538-1790_ (The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1960). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Arval, 3 May 2001: Corrected the footnotes in the list of spellings of .