ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1841 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1841 ************************************ 14 Feb 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a medieval Scottish woman, and you asked for the meanings of the first and last names. We apologize for the time it has taken to answer your question. Our research took longer than we expected. Here is what we have found. The Old Irish language was introduced to Scotland in the 5th century and underwent several major changes before the end of our period as it evolved into Gaelic, so it is necessary to narrow down to part of our period when trying to choose an authentic name. The elements of the name you've chosen are most compatible with the Gaelic of 900-1200, so our discussion will assume that context. If you are interested in another period, please write us again. Several languages were spoken in Scotland in this period: Old Norse in the far north and the western Isles, English mainly in the southeast, Gaelic through most of the country, and after the 12th century Norman settlement, Norman French, mostly in the south. The languages were very different and had different naming customs. The basic structure of your name is perfect for early medieval Gaelic: You are identifying yourself as your father's daughter. That was the most common style of naming in that culture. Your use of "daughter" is exactly right for your period. Although (with an accent on the 'e') does appear once as a woman's name in Irish genealogies, that doesn't necessarily mean it was used by real people. Medieval genealogies often mixed history with legend, and the only example we've found of a female is a legendary figure [1]. We also found several men named , all of them very early saints [2]. We have no evidence that the name was used at all after the 8th century or so, nor that it was used by a woman, so we can't recommend it as good re-creation. If you'd like to consider other choices for your given name, the best sources we can offer are these: A Simple Guide to Constructing 12th Century Scottish Gaelic Names http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/simplescotgaelicnames12.html Some Scottish Gaelic Feminine Names http://www.panix.com/~mittle/arval/scotgaelfem/ Almost as good are these articles, based on medieval Irish sources rather than Scottish ones. Unfortunately, the Scottish Gaels never developed the strong tradition of writing in Gaelic that existed in Ireland, so we have very little evidence of Scottish Gaelic women's names. However, the Gaels of medieval Ireland and Scotland spoke the same language, Gaelic; and because most of the Gaelic names found in Scotland are also found in Ireland, we believe that many other names used by Irish Gaels were also used by Scottish Gaels. Dated Names Found in O Corrain & Maguire's _Irish Names_ http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mari/ocm/ Early Irish Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae' http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/ The last article is a slight revision of the one where you may have originally found . Please note that some of the names listed there are those of legendary women rather than real ones. We found one example in medieval Irish documents of a man named [3]. We don't have an example from Scotland, but we know that many Irish Gaelic names were also used by Scottish Gaels, so it is a plausible choice. The word "warrior" appeared more often in men's names as a descriptive nickname, e.g. "Cathal the Warrior" [4]. We haven't seen it used this way in a woman's name, but it isn't out of the question. A name like "Mo/r daughter of Nia" or "Mo/r the Warrior" is a plausible early medieval Scottish Gaelic name. We found an alternative which is better re-creation and which might appeal to you: We found examples of men named recorded in Ireland in the 8th century and in Scotland in the 11th century [5]. We believe this name could have been used by Scottish Gaels throughout the period 900-1200. apparently derived originally from the phrase "son of the warrior", but in your period it would have been used simply as a given name. Mo/r, the daughter of Macnia, would have been known as . is the possessive form of , analogous to in English. The phrase was pronounced \EEN-y@n vek NEE-@\, where \@\ represents a schwa, the sound of the in . 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, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, and Amant le Marinier. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur & Barak Raz 14 Feb 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Ne/m [2] O/ Riain, Pa/draig,ed.,_Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985), s.n. Ne/m [3] _Annals of Ulster_, Year U776.7 (p. 228 H33rb). (WWW: CELT, 1999) Accessed December 17. 1999. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/ [4] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. nia. [5] Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland (New York: The New York Public Library, 1946) s.n. MacNee