ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1713 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1713 ************************************ 15 Jun 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irishwoman. From your comments, we are assuming you are interested in an early medieval name. Here is what we have found. is a later-period (post-1200) spelling of a name that was in early medieval Gaelic. It was pronounced \BAHN-v@\, where \@\ represents the sound of the in . We find no evidence that was used by real people in period. It was used as a name for the plain that surrounds Tara, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, and later as another name for Ireland as a whole. Place names were very rarely used as people's first names in our period, and we didn't find evidence that this one was used that way. The name also appears in early Irish mythology as the name of a clearly super-human character [1]. We strongly recommend that you choose a different name. You might consider , the name of two early saints. It was pronounced roughly \BAHNV-nitch\ [2]. Your byname, , is not quite correct for your period. is a post-1200 spelling of a word that was in early medieval Gaelic. is also a late medieval spelling; the earlier form was . is the possessive form of that name, but after it becomes . The change of the initial to represents a softening of pronunciation required by Gaelic grammar. is a reasonable name for this period. It would have been pronounced approximately \BAHNV-nitch EEN-yen HYAIR-vahl\. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek and Eafric neyn Kenneoch vc Ralte. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 15 Jun 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Banba. [2] ibid., s.n. Banbnat. The name is related to an Old Irish word that meant "piglet". The masculine form, , was used by an 8th century abbot and was most common in west Munster.