ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1717 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1717 ************************************ 22 Jun 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is an appropriate name for an Irishwoman living sometime after 1000. Here is what we have found. The period 1000 to 1600 is very broad. The language and naming practices in Ireland changed quite a bit in those 600 years. It isn't possible for a name to be authentic for the entire period. We'll suggest some possibilities that fit different parts of it. Unfortunately, there are problems with both names. We'll explain the problems in detail; for more information and assistance in choosing an authentic name, we recommend you consult these articles on the web. The first gives a general discussion of Gaelic name formation. Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ The second focuses on early medieval feminine names, and includes a list of women's given names from that period. Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae'" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/ The last article focuses on later-period names. It includes examples, lists of given names and other name elements, and a detailed discussion of patterns of name formation. Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century Irish Names and Naming Practices http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ is a late-period spelling of a name found in early-medieval Irish legend as . (Gaelic spelling underwent a substantial change around the year 1200.) Although (pronounced \NEE-@v\) is quite common in modern Ireland, we have found no evidence that it was used in our period. We recommend you consider a different name [1, 2]. (with an accent on the 'e') is a modern spelling of a name that was written late in our period and probably earlier. The dot after the 'f' represents a dot over the letter, used in early medieval Gaelic script to indicate lenition, a change in pronunciation forced in Gaelic grammar in some circumstances. The name was pronounced roughly \KEE@-vin\ in the early part of your period, \KAYV-y@n\ later, where \@\ represents the sound of the 'a' in . We have not found any example of a period woman using this name -- the only historical example we found is a fairy in Irish mythology [1] -- but we think the name is not an implausible early medieval Irish name. The second element <-find> occurs in several historical names, such as , and the first element appears in the masculine name [2, 4]. Without a period example, we can't recommend it as the best re-creation, but it is a reasonable extrapolation for early medieval Ireland, 800-1100 or so. In our period the Gaelic word for 'daughter' was written (post-1200 spelling) or (pre-1200 spelling). The early pronunciation was approximately \EEN-y@n\, and this pronunciation remained in use throughout our period in some Irish dialects. Late in our period the pronunciation changed in some dialects, becoming \ih-NEEN\ in parts of Ireland and \NEE-y@n\ in Scotland. Sometime after our period the spelling of the word was changed in Scottish Gaelic from to to reflect the new pronunciation. We could not find in our references. It appears to be a modern Gaelic spelling of the family name ( in English), which originally meant "[male] descendent of or ". The root name was used in early medieval Ireland, but probably not after 1200 or so [2, 3]. "Ci/abfind daughter of Mo/engal" is a plausible 11th or 12th century Irish name. , with the extra 'i', is the possessive form of . The result may have been pronounced \KEE@-vin EEN-y@n VOYN-ghahl~\. \gh\ is a sound not used in English; it is the voiced version of the raspy in Scottish or German . The final sound \l~\ is a "palatalized l", the sound of the in Spanish and French . was a very common Gaelic name from the 13th century on. It was a Gaelic adaptation of the Norman name , and came into use only after the Norman settlement of Ireland [1]. It's a fine choice for your father's name, but only if you want a name appropriate for the last centuries of our period. A 14th century Caitriona, daughter of Sea/n, could have been called \k@-TREE-@-n@ IN-yen HAHN~\. \N~\ is a palatalized 'n', the sound of in the Spanish and of in French . 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. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 22 Jun 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Niam, Ce/ibhfhionn, Seaan. [2] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). [3] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. O/ Maonghaile. [4] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. Ci/aba/n.