ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1658 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1658 ************************************ 15 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irishwoman in our period. This letter is a brief answer to your question. is an early medieval spelling of the name of the saint. However, did not come into use as a personal name in Gaelic until after our period. In our period, 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. It was pronounced \mell VREE-djeh\ [1]. The slash in the name represents an accent on the preceding letter. If you'd like to consider some other early medieval Irish given names, you can find a list 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 Your surname is almost perfect. is the genitive (possessive) form of the early medieval Gaelic name [2]. Ma/el Brigte daughter of Carthach would have been called . The change from an initial to in your father's name is required by Gaelic grammar. It represents a softening in the sound that happens in Gaelic in some circumstances. The details are complicated; write us if you'd like to know. In this case, though, the result is a name that would have been pronounced \mell VREE-djeh EEN-y@n KHAR-thech\ in early medieval Gaelic. \@\ is the schwa, which is the sound of the in . \KH\ represents the sound of in the Scottish word or the German , and represents the sound in the German . This name is appropriate roughly from 700 to 1200. Gaelic spelling underwent a substantial change around 1200, so if you want a later-period persona, you'll need a different form of your name. Write us for details is you're interested. 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 Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 15 Apr 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Brigit. [2] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100