ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2290 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2290 ************************************ 24 Apr 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 15th or 16th century Scots-speaker from Moray. You specifically asked whether the combination of the two bynames is correct. Here is what we have found. We discussed your name in a previous report [1]; you had originally asked about a 14th century name. We'll assume in this letter that you're familiar with the previous report. Unfortunately, the name you've chosen mixes the naming practices of two cultures, Highland Gaelic and Lowland Scots, and mixes two languages, Scots and Latin. All the elements of your name existed in late period Scotland, but they would never have been combined in this manner. is a Scots spelling of . We don't have an example of that spelling from your period, but we do have it in a 14th century document [2] and it is within the range of spelling variation we've observed in 16th century Scots documents [3]. It was pronounced \DJEH-m@ss\, with the second syllable pronounced as in . is a modern English spelling of the Gaelic patronymic byname . That Gaelic name appears in Scots records from your period in various forms: and 1530, 1553, 1560 [4]. Note that these are all Scots renderings of Gaelic names; we have no evidence that any form of this name was used by Lowlanders. Highland Gaelic and Lowland Scots cultures were quite distinct in late-period Scotland. The two cultures used different languages and very different naming practices. Gaelic and Scots name elements were not mixed together. As we noted, we have found no evidence that any form of was used to identify anyone but a Gael in your period, so we cannot support as part of a Lowland name. We have found no example of a shire name like used in 15th or 16th century names. We strongly recommend you avoid it. The underlying place name appears in Scots names in a variety of forms in your period [5]: Emma de Moravia 1405 [John] de Murrefe de Ogylface 1424 [given name modernized in our source] Alexander de Moreff, 1438 Harbard de Murraf, 1470 John of Murrafe, 1476 Patrick Morra 1480 Stephen Murreff, 1496 Morray, 1591 Mwrray 1555 Mvry 1546 Latin was still a common written language in late-period Scotland, and it was not unusual for names to be recorded in Latinized forms. The list above includes several examples: , , . By the 15th century, the preposition would only have been used in Latin documents. The equivalent Scots form is illustrated by another example above, . The Scots word was pronounced \OHF\, with with same vowel as in the word . Over the course of the 15th century, increasing numbers of Lowlanders adopted fixed, inherited surnames like the ones we use today. By c.1500, this practice was almost universal. That is to say, the listed above from 1496 was almost certainly the son of a man who was also surnamed . The preposition in a locative byname like tended to be dropped once the surname was inherited and no longer carried a literal meaning. That left the field clear for a new custom of using with a place name to indicate ownership of land. For most (and perhaps all) of your period, double surnames of the particular form you chose, as in , were understood to identify the man who owned the named lands. In the specific case of the byname , we would expect it to be used only for the Earl of Moray or his close relatives. The simpler form did not always carry the same implication - -- in fact, we have an example of a commoner from 16th century Aberdeen who was identified as . But the same man is more often called , and his surname only meant that his father's name was , not that either of them was from Murray. In other words, the inserted into his name in this one instance was essentially meaningless [3]. is a fine 15th or 16th century Lowland Scots name. is also appropriate, though it would have been an unusual form by the 16th century. In a Latin document, the same man might have been identified as . A double surname form like is equally authentic, but would probably not have been used by anyone other than the Earl of Moray or one of his very close relatives. Only a Gael would have been identified as , so that byname is not appropriate unless you want to re-create a Highlander; and that possibility is too complex to discuss in this letter. Please write us again if you want to investigate a Gaelic 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 Adelaide de Beaumont, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Juliana de Luna, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 24 Apr 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Academy of S. Gabriel report 1923 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1923 [2] Symon Freser of Lovat, "13th & 14th Century Scottish Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/scottish14/ [3] Sharon L. Krossa (Effrick neyn Kenyeoch), unpublished research. [4] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Macmurray. [5] Black, s.n. Murray.