ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1932 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1932 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 17 Feb 2000 From: Alan Terlep Greetings, You asked whether or was more common in Irish women's names around 1400. We can't provide an answer to this question because we don't have a broad enough survey of sources from this period to detect a clear pattern. However, we are sure that both forms are correct. We should stress that these phrases have different meanings--, meaning "daughter," was used to identify a woman as her father's daughter, while , meaning "daughter of a male descendent," was used to identify her as a member of her father's clan. The slash indicates an accent over the previous character, so that represents an accented . Either or both of these identifiers might be used in a woman's name. (1) For example: A man named who was a member of the clan has a daughter and names her Mor. Mor could be called Mor inghean Lochlainn "Mor, daughter of Lochlann" Mor inghean ui/ Lochlainn "Mor of the O/ Lochlainn clan" Mor inghean Lochlainn ui/ Lochlainn "Mor, daughter of Lochlan of the ua Lochlainn clan" The spelling changes in the names above are required by Gaelic grammar. They are highly irregular, but if you'd like us to give you the correct form and pronunciation for any particular name, send it along and we'll be happy to help. Although you didn't ask about it, we wanted to mention that the name appears to have fallen out of use well before your period. (2, 3) If you want a name that's appropriate for 1400, we recommend that you choose a different given name. We have three articles with Irish women's names from your period: Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century Irish Names and Naming Practices http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ Women's Names in the Annals of Connacht: 1224-1544 http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mari/AnnalsConnacht/ Dated Names Found in O/ Corra/in & Maguire's _Irish Names_ http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mari/ocm/ If you have any other questions about finding a name for this period, or you'd like to verify the correct grammar and pronunciation of your name, let us know. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Effric neyn Kenyeoch, Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, and Arval Benicoeur contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Your servant, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel February 17, 2000 (1) Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Women's Names in the Annals of Connacht: 1224-1544" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000) Accessed January 23, 2000. (2) O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Sa/erlaith. (3) Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). The entry for lists one example in the 10th century. In that period, the name was probably pronounced \SAR-l@th\, with the \A\ in the first syllable pronounced as in . Earlier, in the 7th-8th century, it would have been \SIRE-l@th\. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Addendum, Arval, 27 July 2004: Added note (3).