ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2065 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2065 ************************************ 7 Jun 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irish woman living c.1500. You also wanted to know the Irish equivalent of , which you are considering using as your father's name. Here is what we have found. was originally the name of a southern Irish goddess, and a historical is a patron saint of the parish of Tallaght in County Dublin [1]. We haven't found examples of the name later than the early Middle Ages, and we doubt it was used as late as your period. Since it also isn't pronounced much like -- which you said was your goal -- we recommend you choose a different name. Through most of our period the name was probably pronounced \MOO-ghahn~\. \gh\ represents a sound that doesn't occur in English; it is the voiced version of the raspy sound in the Scottish word or the German . \n~\ represents the sound of n-tilde in Spanish words like or of the in French . We can't suggest a Gaelic name pronounced like , but we can suggest one that's related to it. was originally a Welsh nickname for [2], so we thought you might be interested in a Gaelic form of . That name was carried to Ireland by the English and adopted into Gaelic as [1]. The slashes in represents acute accent marks on the preceding vowel. This name was pronounced \MAHR-ghrayd\. "sweet-sounding" is recorded as part of an early-medieval Gaelic masculine name [3]. It is not impossible that it continued in use as late as the 15th century, though not in this spelling; but we have no evidence that it did and we cannot recommend it as good re-creation. is the early medieval spelling of the Gaelic word for "daughter". By your period, it was typically spelled and pronounced \EEN-y@n\. \@\ represents the sound of the in . was the name of 26 early medieval Irish saints [1], but we also have no evidence that it remained in use later in period. However, 75 years ago it was still common in parts of Ireland [4], so we think it not implausible that it was in use in your period. It was pronounced \KEE-@-rahn\. The form used after to form a patronymic is , pronounced \KHEE-@-rahn~\. The change in spelling from to and the change in pronunciation from \K\ to \KH\ represents a Gaelic grammatical process called "lenition" that it required in some circumstances. The second syllable of this name should be very short. \KH\ represents the unvoiced raspy sound in Scottish or German . The Anglo-Norman name or was adopted into Gaelic well before your period; it took a couple different forms, derived from the two pronunciations of the Norman name. By your period, these names were generally spelled and or , pronounced \RISH-ch@rd\ and \RIK-ard\, respectively. The letter doesn't change spelling under lenition, so with the names in their genitive forms, , , or would be very appropriate to your period [1, 4]. Putting it all together, we can wholeheartedly recommend a name like as a perfect choice for your period. is less well-documented, but plausible. We recommend you avoid or the descriptive nickname , as neither is likely to have been used in your period. 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 Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, and Effrick neyn Kenneoch. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 7 Jun 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Mugain, Ma/rgre/g, Ciara/n, Ricard. [2] Josh Mittleman, "Concerning the Name 'Megan'", in The Problem Names Project (WWW: Sharon L. Krossa, 1997, 1999). http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/megan.shtml [3] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Early Irish Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae'" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/ [4] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation). s.nn. Ciara/n, Ristea/rd.