ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1939 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1939 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 30 Jan 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information on the Scottish name , specifically how it would be pronounced. Here is the information we have found. was probably borrowed into Old Irish from a Pictish source. (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter.) , better known in English as , is the earliest known Scottish bearer of this name; generally considered the first king of Scotland, he died c.860. was pronounced \KIN-edh\, where \dh\ is the sound of the in . [1] Many Gaelic names changed their spelling and pronunciation around 1200. We are not sure if changed in spelling and pronunciation. The evidence we have found leads us to believe that it did not; we found it in this spelling after c. 1200 in Ireland, and did not find a later period form of it in Scotland. Therefore we can tentatively say that would be an appropriate name for both pre c. 1200 and post c. 1200. appears to be an English spelling of a Gaelic surname "son of Gille Bha/in". The Gaelic name was pronounced \mahk GILL-y@ VAHN~\. Here the \G\ is hard, as in English , \@\ stands for the sound of the in , and \N~\ is the sound of the in French . The name is recorded in English sources in Ireland c.1600 as and [4]. In Scotland, the same name eventually produced an English form . [2] However, may also have derived from other sources, including Gaelic "son of Beatha/n." [3] That last name was pronounced \mahk BAY-hahn\ by the end of our period. For a man living before c.1200, mac Gilla Ba/in> is a fine name. After c. 1200, it would have been spelled , pronounced \KIN-edh mahk GILL-y@ VAHN~\. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Eafrick neyn Kennyeoch, Talan Gwynek, and Amant le Marinier. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 30Jan00 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Cinaed [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). s.n. MacBaine [3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3). s.n. MacBean