ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1644 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1644 ************************************ 29 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether , translated into Irish, is an appropriate name for a 9th century Irish monk. You also asked if meant "artist". This letter is a brief answer to your questions. We previously sent you some information on the name . You can find a more thorough discussion of that name on the web: Concerning the Names Aidan, Ao/dha/n, Aodh, and the Like http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/problemnames/aidan.html Since is a modern English spelling of the name, we'll assume you'll want to use the spelling , which is the correct one for your period. The slash in the name represents an accent on the preceding letter. In your period, the name was pronounced \AIDH-ahn\, where \AI\ represents the vowel in and \DH\ is the sound in . A Irishman in your period would almost always have been known as his father's son. Ae/da/n son of Fergus would have been called . is the possessive form of , and means "Fergus's". If you'd like to consider some other choices for your father's name, you can find a list of appropriate names on the web: 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 The possessive form is given in the last column; that's the one you'd use in a patronymic byname, i.e. after . If you'd like the pronunciation of any of these names, write us. is a modern place name. The monastery there existed at the beginning of the ninth century, so it is a good basis for your period. We found a period reference to it as , and it might also have been spelled [2, 3]. However, in your name you need the genitive (possessive) form of the name, since you want to say that you are "Skellig Michael's Aidan". We believe the correct form to include in your name is [4]. In general, Gaels rarely used surnames based on place names. There are exceptions, and many of them are religious figures [1]. We're not sure whether an itinerant monk would have been identified this way, but it is at least plausible that you could have been called , pronounced \AIDH-ahn SKEL-ig VEE-ch@l\. \ch\ here represents the hissy sound in the German word , and \@\ represents a schwa, which is the sound in or . We could not find any medieval Gaelic nickname with a meaning like . Gaelic nicknames were generally very straightforward. You can see a few early medieval examples in an article on the web: Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae' http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html The article deals with feminine names, but it includes examples of nicknames used by men, too. In summary, we believe that is a plausible name for a monk of your period. However, he would probably also have been known in some circumstances as his father's son, so we encourage you to pick a patronymic, too. We cannot recommend as a plausible period nickname. or was the name of a character in early Irish legend, associated with the mythological Tuatha De Danann, and later incorporated into folk legend and mentioned in some saint's lives. He is an allegorical character whose name means "smith wright". It would not be correct to use his name to describe yourself as an artisan. You might incorporate the word "smith" or "wright" into your name in a few different ways. If you're interested, write us again and we'll give you the details. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 29 Apr 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Riain, Pa/draig, ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985). [2] De Paor, Maire and Liam De Paor, _Early Christian Ireland_ (London: Thames & Hudson, 1960), p.56. [3] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. sceillec. [4] Hogan, Edmund, _Onomasticon Goedelicum: Locorum et Tribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae (An Index, with Identifications, to the Gaelic Names of Places and Tribes)_ (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1993 [1910]).