ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1614 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1614 ************************************ 1 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Lowland Scottish woman around 1520 who is a member of the Macmillian clan. This letter is a brief answer to your question. You contacted us on behalf of your friend. We prefer to work direct with our clients rather than through an intermediary. If it's possible for your friend to contact us directly, we'd appreciate it. If not, then we thank you for your help. >From the late 14th century onward, there were two main languages spoken in Scotland: Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands, and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. Gaelic is the same language spoken in Ireland at this time; Scots is closely related to contemporary English. Names were formed quite differently in the two languages, and the two styles of naming did not mix. You wrote that your friend wants a Lowland persona, so we will primarily discuss Scots naming practices. was not a woman's name in our period. It was a masculine name, an anglicization of the Gaelic masculine name and perhaps also (independently) a Scots spelling of the name . (The slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.) However, we have found no example of even as a man's given name in period Scotland. It was used as a surname: We found in Glasgow in 1511, and in Aberdeen, 1513 [1, 2]. We strongly recommend that your friend choose a different first name. She can find a list of 16th century Lowland women's given names on the web: Early 16th Century Scottish Town Women's Names http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/scottownwomen16.html is a modern English spelling of the Gaelic patronymic surnames "son of Maola/n". In Gaelic, names like this one were used literally in our period. That is to say, a Gael would have been called only if he were a man and his father's given name was . The modern practice of using names like as inherited clan surnames did not develop until after our period. There were clans in Gaelic Scotland in our period, but a person's clan affiliation was not included in her name. There were no Gaelic clans in the Lowlands in the 16th century. Some Gaelic patronymics were adopted into Scots as inherited family names by the 16th century, so it is possible for a Lowland woman to have the surname . However, this particular spelling is unlikely to have been used in period. We found the name in Scots documents in the 16th century in other spellings: , burgess of Ayr in 1559, also spelled in 1555 [3]. So, for example, would be a fine name for your friend's persona, especially if she places her persona in 16th century Ayr. We should stress, though, that her surname wouldn't imply anything about clan membership: She would not have been a member of a clan. Her name would simply have meant that her father's surname was . We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you or your friend have any questions or if any part of this letter is unclear. I was assisted in preparing this letter by Affrick neyn Kenneoch and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 1 Apr 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Rowan. [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Ru/adha/n. [3] Black, op. cit., s.n. MacMillan.