ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2014
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2014
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18 Apr 2000
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether any form of <Mark> was used in Scottish Gaelic; you were
interested in combining it with your patronymic byname <mac Beatha/in> [1].
Here is what we have found.

The New Testament name <Marcus> was adopted into Gaelic by the 14th century
in Scotland, when it was used by the Galwegian bishop <Mark> of Man and the
Hebrides and by <Marcus MacDonald>, a son of the Lord of the Isles.  These
examples are recorded in non-Gaelic records, in non-Gaelic spellings, but
they do prove that the name was used by Gaels in Scotland.  Similar
examples appear in later non-Gaelic Scottish records: <Cristinus MacMarkys>
1428, <Gilnow McMarkische> or <McMarcus> 1541, <Gilmonale McMark> 1541 [2].

We found other examples of <Marcus> in Irish Gaelic documents, and these
allow us to suggest a Gaelic spelling of the name.  These examples we found
include the genitive (possessive) form of the name, spelled <Marcusa> in
1398, <Marcuis> in 1492 [3].  These spellings suggest that the basic
(nominative) Gaelic form of the name was <Marcus>.  Therefore, we can
recommend <Marcus mac Beatha/in> as an appropriate name for a Scottish Gael
in the 14th century or later.  <Marc mac Beatha/in> is probably also an
appropriate name.


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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Mari
inghean mhic Bhriain.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  18 Apr 2000


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References

[1] We discussed <mac Beatha/in> in our previous letter to you, Academy
report 1879.  You can find that letter on the web:
http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/showfinal.cgi?1879

[2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and
History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. MacMark,
MacMarcus, Mark.

[3] Cournane, Mavis, Vibeke Dijkman, Ivonne Tummers, ed., "Anna/la
Connacht" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University
College, Cork, Ireland., 1997). 
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011/