ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1688 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1688 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 28 Jul 1999 From: Jim Trigg Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a name appropriate for a pre-1450 Irishwoman, and you expressed interest in the usage and meanings of the names , , and . (The slash in represents an accent on the preceding letter.) You were particularly interested in , but you mentioned that your father's name is . Here is what we have found. In most cultures within the scope of the Society, given names didn't have meanings. Nearly all names ultimately derived from normal words in some language, but it was very rare for people to continue to associate a given name with meaning of those ancient root words. Once these words came to be used as names, they were merely names and no longer had a deeper meaning. In modern English, we know that the word is related to the name , but in normal use, we don't expect the plant to have anything to do with a person who uses the name. If the connection is less obvious, the meaning is completely irrelevant. For example, derives from an Aramaic word that means "twin", but we hardly expect every Thomas today to be a twin. Similarly, while there are given names which derive from words that mean "raven" in one language or another, the connection was rarely recognized and almost never relevant. We could not find in our references. It appears to be a feminine form of the Polish name [1]. That name would normally be feminized as ; we haven't seen examples of any form of the name spelled with the second 'a'. We have also seen no examples of Polish names used in the British Isles before 1450. It is very unlikely that any form of would have reached Ireland by 1450, and using it in an Irish name would be poor re-creation. was a typographical error in our web site; we're glad you brought it to our attention. The actual name is , which we have only seen used in the early Middle Ages (before ca. 1000). If you are interested in that era, it would be appropriate, but it would be a poor choice any later than ca. 1000. A somewhat similar name that was used after 1000 is . is also only found before ca. 1000 and should not be used for a person from a later time. [2,3] In our period, a woman in Gaelic culture was almost always identified as her father's daughter. A late medieval woman named , daughter of , would normally have been known as "A/ine Uilliam's daughter". Neither men nor women were identified as their mother's children in Gaelic [4]. is a woman's name, so we strongly recommend you avoid calling yourself "daughter of Der-draigen". Since your father's name is , we thought you might be interested in calling yourself "William's daughter". The name we used as an example above does exactly that. is a fine Gaelic name for any time after 1200 or so. It was pronounced \AHN-y@ IN-yen WILL-y@m\. The name was introduced to Ireland by the Normans in the 12th century. [2] If you want a name for an earlier period, then it isn't appropriate. would be a fine choice for your given name if you set yourself before 1000 or so. To complete your name, you'll want to choose your father's given name. You can find a list of appropriate men's names on the web: 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100 sounds a bit like . A 10th century woman named A/maith, daughter of Diarmait mac Domnaill, would have been called . is the early medieval spelling of . This name would have been pronounced roughly \AHL-v@th EEN-y@n DEER-m@-d@\. I hope this letter has been helpful, and please don't hesitate to contact us if you want more information. I was assisted in writing and researching this letter by Affrick neyn Kenneoch, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Blaise de Cormeilles 28 July, 1999 ----- References: [1] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. A/lmath, A/ine, Uilliam [3] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae'" (WWW, Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/ [4] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames (2nd Edition)", (WWW: Privately published, 20 Aug 1998). http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/