ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2247 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2247 ************************************ From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 12 Mar 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is a suitable name for a man living in Ireland between 900 and 1200. Here is the information we have found. is the name of one of the archangels [1]. Although it was a common name in many medieval cultures, and it is a common modern Irish name, we have found no citations for the name in Ireland during the period you specified, and we do not believe it was used. The names of certain saints and religious figures (such as Michael and Patrick) were evidently considered too holy to be used by ordinary folk. Instead, the Gaels used compound given names like , which literally means "tonsured servant of Michael". The slash represents an accent over the preceding letter. A large number of given names like this one came into use around the 7th century and became quite popular. We find the name recorded in Ireland during your period [2, 3]: mac Maoil Michil 889 (a byname, 'son of Ma/el Mi/che/l') Mael Michel 1167 There is a great deal of spelling variation in the medieval Irish records, and it is possible that accents have been left off as the documents were transcribed. We believe the most typical spelling of the given name in your period is . At the beginning of your period, it was probably pronounced \MILE VEE-chayl\, where \MILE\ is the pronunciation of the word , \ay\ rhymes with , and \ch\ represents the soft in German . After about 1000, it was likely pronounced \MAL VEE-chayl\, with \A\ in the first syllable pronounced as in . If the given name does not appeal to you, you might find some alternatives in the following article: "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ is a modern spelling of a name which we find recorded most commonly in your period as ; it is an excellent choice for your byname. We have the following examples from your period (note the abbreviation stands for , the element which was later spelled ) [4, 5]: h-ua Domnaill 1000 H. Domnaill 1011, 1038, 1106 h-u/a Domnaill 1094 h-U/i Domnaill 1103 h-U/a n-Domnaill 1114, 1143, 1159 h-U/a Domnaill 1121 h-Ua Domnaill 1201 In the early part of your period, it might have meant literally that you were a descendant of a man named [6]. Toward the end of your period, names like this one were almost always used to indicate clan membership. It was pronounced \oo@ DOHV-nahl~\, where \oo\ represents the sound of in , \@\ is the sound of in and , \OH\ is the sound of in , and \l~\ represents a palatalized "l", the sound of in the French word . In summary, we can recommend as a fine name for an Irishman in the 10th-12th centuries. 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, Juliana de Luna, Mari neyn Brian, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 6 March 2001 References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Michael. [2] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997). Examples of as a given name or as a patronymic appear in entries M889.4 and M1167.5. The first three or four digits are the year of the events recorded. [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005A (v.1), http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005B (v.2)] [3] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "The Annals of Ulster" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997). as a given name appears in entry U1167.3. The first four digits are the year of the events recorded. [URL:http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/] [4] ibid. A form of appears in entries U1011.4, U1038.2, U1106.5, and U1201.6. The first four digits are the year of the events recorded. [URL:http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100001/] [5] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh, ed., "Annals of Tigernach" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1996). Examples of this clan name appear in entries T1094.5, T1103.4, T1114.11, T1121.4, T1143.3 and T1159.11. The first four digits are the year of the events recorded. [URL: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100002/] [6] The spelling difference between and arises because the latter name is a possessive form, just as varies from . Further spelling changes developed later, when we find the form ; these changes occurred after 1200, so they would not affect the spelling for your period.