ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2258 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2258 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 23 Apr 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if , meaning "Dorrin the midwife," would be an appropriate name for a Manx woman living any time before 1600. Here is the information we have found. appears to be a Manx form of the Irish Gaelic name that is spelled in late-period Gaelic. In both cases, it was pronounced \DOR-(y)@n\, where \(y)\ represents a very lightly pronounced consonantal \y\ and \@\ stands for the sound of in or [1,2]. Our sources for Manx names are limited, so we can't say for sure whether was used before 1600, but we suspect that it was not: The Irish Gaelic name fell out of use at an early date [1], and all evidence that we've seen for is modern [4]. If you'd like to look at a list of Manx feminine names that we know were used before 1600, we recommend the following article: Manx Names in the Early 16th Century http://www.medievalscotland.org/manxnames/jonesmanx16.shtml We found no evidence that means "midwife". As best we could determine, it is a Manx term for "religious [woman], nun" [3]. We looked for a period Manx or Irish Gaelic term that meant "midwife", but we found nothing. Various modern dictionaries of these languages include words that mean "midwife" or "obstetrician", but none of them appear in our references on medieval Gaelic. It's possible that there was no Gaelic word for this concept: Many occupational terms in common use in the modern world didn't have equivalents in all medieval languages: If the activities involved had not yet become the preserve of specialists, then the culture may not have developed any special word to designate them. If almost every woman acted as a midwife, then there may not have been a separate concept of "midwife" as a particular occupation, and thus no need for a word to describe it. Even if a term meaning "midwife" had existed in Gaelic, it almost certainly would not have been used as part of a Gaelic woman's name: Although occupational bynames with meanings like "smith" and "tailor" were very common in many period languages, they were vanishingly rare in Gaelic [5]. We therefore recommend that you choose a different byname. The article listed above has information on late-period Manx surname practices. You will notice that all the occupational surnames listed are English rather than Gaelic in origin. If you particularly want to use a byname that identifies you by your occupation, then we recommend you consider choosing an English given name and byname. The term was used in English by 1303 [6]. By that time, literal bynames (as opposed to inherited family names) were on the decline in England, so it is not very likely that a word introduced so late would have been used as a byname. However, if this possibility interests you, write us again and we'll research it further. [See below for more information!] We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Adelaide de Beaumont, Julie Stampnitzky, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Angharat ver' Reynulf, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, Barak Raz, and AElfwyn aet Gyrwum. For the Academy, Aryanhwy merch Catmael & Arval Benicoeur 23 Apr 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Doirend. [2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. Doireann. [3] Kelly, Paul, "Focklyr Gaelg - Baarle (Manx Dictionary)", 3rd edition in "Gaelic Dictionaries Online" (WWW: ceantar.org, 1993), s.v. ben reaylt. http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/Manx/mx03.html [4] Kneen, J.J., _The Personal Names of the Isle of Man_ (London: Oxford University Press, 1937). [5] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames (2nd Edition)", (WWW: Privately published, 20 Aug 1998) http://www.MedievalScotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ [6] _The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973), s.v. midwife. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Arval, 7 Aug 2002: We have since discovered an example of used as a byname: at Chipping Campden in Kiftsgate Hundred, Gloucestershire, 1381 [Carolyn C. Fenwick, ed., _The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379, and 1381. Part 1, Bedfordshire - Leicestershire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p.284.