ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1631
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1631
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9 Jun 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked about whether the name <Teleri McPherson> would be appropriate
for a Scottish woman living between 800 and 1550.

The name <Teleri> is Welsh.  We do not recommend it as good re-creation.
The name appears in the list of ladies of Arthur's court in the Mabinogion,
a collection of Welsh literature from around the 11th century. [1] We have
not found it used by any real person.  Even if we had, it would not be
appropriate for a Scottish woman, because Welsh was not spoken in Scotland,
and we have no seen example of Welsh first names mixed into Scottish names.

Over the span of time in which you are interested, there was a great deal
of diversity and change in the languages spoken in Scotland.  Gaelic, the
same language spoken in Ireland, was the dominant language up to the 11th
century and remained in use to the end of our period.  Settlers brought
other languages to Scotland by the 13th century: Old English in the
southeast, Old Norse in the north and western isles, and Norman French
mostly in the south.  In the 14th century, the languages of the Lowlands
evolved into Scots, a close relative of contemporary English.  Names were
formed quite differently in these various languages, and some of the styles
of naming changed substantially.  In order to choose an authentic name,
you'll need to narrow down your choice of time and place, culture and
language.

As a result, the choice of an authentic name for your persona will depend
on when you want to be in Scotland and what language you wish to speak.
<MacPherson> is an English version of a Gaelic surname meaning "son of the
parson." [2] In period Gaelic, this would have been used literally,
i.e. only by a man who was the son of a parson.  If you are interested in a
Gaelic name, you would need the form meaning "daughter of the parson."
Since this varies depending on the specific time period, we'll be glad to
help you with it if you decide on a Gaelic-speaking persona and let us know
what period you'd like.  You can also find a very good discussion of
Scottish naming in this article on the web:

  Scottish Names 101 
  http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/scotnames101.html


We hope this letter has been helpful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  Tangwystyl verch
Morgant Glasvryn, and Walraven van Nijmegen contributed comments and/or
research for this letter.

For the Academy,

   AElfwyn aet Gyrwum and Arval d'Espas Nord
   9 June 1999
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References:

[1] Jones, Gwyn & Thomas Jones, trans., _The Mabinogion_ (Everyman's
Library, 1974).

[2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning
and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n.
McPherson.