ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1943 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1943 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 29 Feb 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help creating an authentic late-period Irish feminine name, with or as your given name, and as your surname. Here is the information we have found. All the names you asked about are at least plausible for your period. However, the way you've put them together isn't correct: Double given names (or middle names) weren't used in period Gaelic. appears to be an anglicization of , an Irish borrowing of the name . (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter). The name became popular in Ireland through Norman and English influence, and was a common name by the 15th century. It was pronounced \kah-TREE-nah\. [1] Note that it was not pronounced \kah-tree-OH-nah\; this pronunciation is a result of applying English pronunciation rules to a Gaelic name, and the result is not correct. Other spellings that we found are 1412, 1417, 1516, and 1525, all pronounced roughly \kah-ch@-REE-n@\, where the \@\ represents the initial vowel sound in . [3] is a late-period Gaelic form of . The earliest instance we find of it is the name of a girl who died in 1636. This makes a reasonable choice for your name, but only in the late 16th century. [2] was an extremely rare name before the 17th century; it was considered too holy by the Gaels to be used by people. We have found a couple of examples of it used in the 16th century, though, so we believe it would be a possible name for the later end of your period, though it would have been quite rare. [1] It was pronounced roughly \MAHR-ih\ in your period. Of the three names you were interested in, is by far the most typical of late-period Irish naming. is an English spelling of Gaelic sept name . [4] A sept name is a type of surname that indicates the bearer's clan. would have been used by men to mean "[male] member of the O/ Braona/in sept." The correct feminine form of this for your period would be , meaning "[female] member of the O/ Braona/in sept." It was pronounced \EEN-y@n ee VRAYN-ahn~\, where the \n~\ is pronounced like the in Spanish . The changes in the spelling and pronunciation of are requirements of Gaelic grammar. In conclusion is a fine late period Irish name, pronounced \kah-TREE-nah EEN-y@n ee VRAYN-ahn~\. or are less likely, but possible. 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, Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, and Barak Raz. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 29Feb00 --------------------------------------- References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990).s.nn. Caiteri/na, Maire [2] Coghlan, Ronan, _Irish Christian Names_ (London: Johnston and Bacon, 1979). s.n. Elan [3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Women's Names in the Annals of Connacht: 1224-1544" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000) Accessed January 23, 2000. [4] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation). s.n. O'Brennan