ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2196
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2196
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From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 
8 Mar 2001


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked if <Maeve Skye Miekal> is an appropriate name for a woman living 
in Ireland or Scotland between 1200 and 1500.  You also inquired about the 
surname <Huntly>.  Here is the information we have found.

Unfortunately, the name you've chosen doesn't fit the times and places that 
interest you.  We can suggest some similar names that would be appropriate 
in various contexts.  To start, we need to give you a little background 
information on languages and naming in Scotland and Ireland.

Both countries were home to more than one culture and language in your 
period.  Ireland was inhabited by people who spoke Gaelic or English, 
Scotland primarily by people who spoke Gaelic or Scots.  The Gaelic of 
Ireland and of Scotland was the same language, though there were some 
differences in dialect, pronunciation, and naming customs.  Scots was a 
close relative of contemporary English; it was spoken in the Lowlands of 
Scotland, including the towns and the royal court.  In late-period 
Scotland, Gaelic was spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles.

English and Scots naming customs were similar, though not identical. Gaelic 
naming customs were quite different, though, and the two styles of naming 
were not mixed together.  Your choice of culture, therefore, will determine 
the type of name that is appropriate for your recreation.  You seem unsure 
as to whether you want a Gaelic name; we'll discuss possibilities in both 
Gaelic and Scots, since your suggested name has elements from each.  First 
we'll discuss the form of your name, and then we'll look at each name 
element you asked about.

Your suggested name of <Maeve Skye Miekal> seems to be composed of two 
given names and a surname.  A second given name, or "middle name" was 
virtually unknown for your period, and accordingly its use makes a poor 
recreation.  (Often when two given names are recorded together, like 
<Robert Michael>, the second name is a patronymic, or a name indicating 
your father.  In this case, Robert is the son of Michael.)  We would expect 
a woman in either Ireland or Scotland for your period to have a single 
given name and a byname.

<Maeve> is a modern English form of the Irish Gaelic name which was 
recorded in your period as <Meadhbh> [1].  It was a very popular woman's 
name in Ireland throughout your period; it was pronounced \MEHV\.  We do 
not find it recorded in Scotland; whether this fact is due to the limited 
number of surviving Gaelic records, or because the name was not used in 
Scotland, we can't be sure. We do find the name <Mavis> recorded in a 
Scots-language document in 16th century Aberdeen [2];  this name may or may 
not have been influenced by the Gaelic <Meadhbh>.

<Skye> is the modern English name of one of the Western Isles of Scotland, 
or the Hebrides.  The origin of the name is uncertain, but it probably 
relates to the Gaelic word whose modern form is <sgiath> 'wing, shield' due 
to the shape of the island; the early form of the word was <sciath>.  We 
find it recorded in various forms [3, 4]:

Skitis, c. 150
Scii, 708
Skiadh, 1208
Scy, 1266

We don't know when the spelling <Skye> was first used, but it is a
reasonable English version of the Gaelic pronunciation \SKEE-@\, where
\@\ represents the sound of <a> in <soda> and <about>.  The English
pronunciation would have been the same as the Gaelic pronunciation at
the beginning of your period, but over time it would have shortened to
\SKEE\.  By the very end of your period, it was shifting to \SKY\
(pronounced like the word <sky>).

The use of <Skye> as a given name dates only to the late 20th century
[5].  There is a rare, old Irish Gaelic name <Sciath>; like the island
name, it was identical to the common Old Irish word for 'wing' and
'shield'.  We find it recorded in 12th century Ireland; unfortunately,
the source is a genealogy and we don't know when the woman recorded as
<Sciath> actually lived [6].  It is also the name of an early Irish
saint [7].  We have no examples from your period; we don't know how
late the name stayed in use, but we do not believe it would be a
plausible recreation for any later than around the 10th century.  In
early use, it was pronounced \SKEE-ahth\; if it remained in use for
your period it would have been pronounced \SKEE-@\ (like the island
name).  As with <Meadhbh>, we do not find this name recorded in
Scotland.

Additionally, we have found no bynames based on the placename <Skye>.
It is highly unlikely that anyone was known as <of Skye> in your
period; our research indicates that names based on placenames are
virtually unknown in Gaelic.  We have examples of names of Gaels
recorded in English, Scots-language or Latin records that include a
byname based on a place; however, these bynames are usually based on
an individual's landholding, rather than the area in which they live.
(For example, we would expect <John de Glenesk>, recorded in 1256, to
be the lord of the baronial lands of Glenesk, as indeed he was.)  Many
Scots-speaking individuals had bynames based on places, but as Skye is
in a Gaelic-speaking region it is unlikely that a Scots-speaker would
have been associated with the island [8].  We find no bynames based on
<Skye> in any of our sources, and we do not believe it was used [9].

Your spelling of <Miekal> is not one we recognize; however, there are
similar bynames, especially in Scotland.  The modern surname <Meikle>
derives from a Scots-language word meaning 'large, great'.  We find it
recorded as <Mykill> in 1431 and as <Mekill> in 1501 [10].  Throughout
your period it was pronounced \MIH-k@l\, where \IH\ represents the
sound of <I> in <pig>.  For the early part of your period, it would
have been a literal description, meaning that you were a large person.
From roughly the late 15th century on, it would more likely have been
an inherited surname.

<Mekill> would not be compatible with a Gaelic name like <Meadhbh>; the 
Scots and Gaelic given name pools were quite different.  If you are 
interested in finding a given name appropriate for a Scots-speaker, we 
suggest the following articles:

A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/scottishfem/

Early 16th Century Scottish Town Women's Names
http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/scottownwomen16.shtml

Although the names in the second article are dated after the period you 
specified, any of them should be appropriate for at least the last century 
of your period.  For example, <Alesone> or <Katrine> would work well with 
<Mekill>; <Alesone Mekill> would be a fine name for a Scots-speaker from 
the last century of your period.

If you intended <Miekal> as a form of <Michael>, you have other 
possibilities.  The modern surname <Mitchell> derives from a patronymic use 
of <Michael>; we find the following forms recorded in Scotland [11]:

Michael, 1438
Michell, 1489
Mitsell, 1496
Mitschell, 1524
Mytschell, 1555

Again, these forms are used by Scots-speakers, and would not be compatible 
with a Gaelic given name; <Katrine Mitsell> would be a fine name, but 
<Meadhbh> and <Mitsell> would not work together.

If it's more important to you to use a form of <Maeve>, then we can help 
you choose a Gaelic name.  In Gaelic bynames for your period, in both 
Ireland and Scotland, people were almost always identified as their 
father's children.  Meadhbh, daughter of <Brian mac Cormaicc> would have 
been known as <Meadhbh inghean Bhriain>, meaning literally 'Meadhbh, 
daughter of Brian' and pronounced \MEHV EEN-y@n VREE-ahn~\. The tilde 
represents the sound of <n~> in Spanish <sen~or> and <gn> in Italian 
<lasagna> and French <montagne> [12].  If you are interested in learning 
more about Gaelic women's names, we recommend this article:

Quick and Easy Gaelic Names
http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/

The byname <Huntly> derives from a place called <Huntlie> near
Berwick.  (There was another place called <Huntly> in period, in the
northeast, named after the first.)  We find it recorded as a byname in
1296 as <de Hunteleghe> [13].  Later it is found spelled <Huntly> and
<Huntlie> [14].  For the early part of your period, a Scots-speaking
woman living near Huntlie might be recorded as <Johanna de Hunteleghe>
in Latin documents and known as <Jonete off Huntlie> in vernacular, or
spoken, usage.  By around the 15th century, the likely form would be
<Jonete Huntly>, where <Huntly> would be an inherited surname (she
might be the daughter of <Johne Huntly>, for example) and would no
longer necessarily mean that she lived near Huntly.

In summary, we can't recommend any name much like <Maeve Skye Miekal>;
this name combines elements from different languages that aren't
compatible.  Unfortunately, we haven't found any way to use <Skye> in
a name that is authentic for your period.  If you want a name that is
appropriate for one of the cultures of Ireland or Scotland, then you
need to start by choosing the culture you want to re-create.  We
suggested some possibilities in Gaelic and in Scots, and some
resources where you can find alternatives.  If you'd like to discuss
any of these possibilities further, please write us again.


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 Arval Benicoeur, Effrick neyn 
Kenneoch, Juliana de Luna, Julie Stampnitzky, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna 
Benvenuti, and Talan Gwynek.


For the Academy,


Adelaide de Beaumont
8 March 2001

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References:

[1]     O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: 
The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Meadhbh.

[2]     The manuscript Aberdeen Council Registers, Volumes 8 - 20 
(1501-1551), in the Aberdeen City Archives, years 1532-3, Mavis Glenny. 
 This is the only example of the name we have in Scotland, so it was by no 
means a common name.

[3]     Field, John, _Place-Names of Great Britain and Ireland_, (London: 
David & Charles, 1990), s.n. Skye.

[4]     Watson, William J., _The History of the Celtic Place-Names of 
Scotland_ (London: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd., 1926). p. 39.

[5]     Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges, _A Dictionary of First Names_, 
Revised Edition (Oxford University Press, 1997), s.nn. Sky, Skye.

[6]     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), 
s.n. Sciath,  [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/], 
accessed 8 March 2001.

[7]     O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, op. cit, s.n. Sciath. 
 Saint Sciath's feast day is 6 September.

[8]     The history of land holding and lordship in Skye was such that 
Gaels who held land in Skye either held only a part of Skye or else held 
Skye and a lot more besides.  Because locative bynames of Gaels as recorded 
in Scots and Latin documents strongly corresponded with ownership, and 
because people throughout Skye's history who have owned land on Skye have 
owned either more or less than the whole island, we believe it is 
_especially_ unlikely that anyone would be known as <of Skye>.

[9]     If you intended <Skye> as a surname, there are some 
similar-looking, though unrelated, bynames found in Scotland.  We find 
<Skea>, a name from the Orkney Islands, recorded as <Scay> in 1523, as 
<Skay> in 1559, and as <Skaye> in 1562 (likely pronounced \SKAY\, rhyming 
with <day>).  We also find the surname <Skene>, from Aberdeenshire, 
recorded as <Skyne> in 1586 (likely pronounced either \SKEEN\ or \SKAYN\ 
for your period).  Either of these names would be appropriate for a 
Scots-speaker.  These spellings are slightly later than the period you 
asked us about; if either name interests you, please write again.

[10]     Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning 
and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Meikle.

[11]     Black, s.n. Mitchell.

[12]     A patronymic is formed using your given name, followed by 
<inghean> 'daughter', followed by your father's name, given in the genitive 
form and lenited.  The genitive is a possessive form, much like <John's> 
from <John>.  Lenition is a softening of the consonant sound, usually 
indicated by placing <h> after the softened consonant.

[13]     Black, s.n. Huntly.

[14]     Aberdeen Council Registers, year 1521.