ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2305 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2305 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 15 Jul 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the byname or is appropriate for a man living in Ireland between 1300 and 1600. You also asked about the given names , , and , and about the likelihood of constructing a three-element name with the initials . Here is the information we have found. As we mentioned in previous correspondence, you've asked about names which come from different and incompatible cultures of the British Isles in your period. We'll give you a number of options, but first we'll need to explain how the different cultures looked at names. The explanation is a little complicated; please bear with us. We'll start with a little general background on the cultures and languages of the British Isles, then discuss each element of your name in detail, discuss the overall construction, and finally suggest some alternatives. Along the way, we'll discuss naming practices in Scotland and England as well as Ireland, since some of your goals are easier to achieve in the cultures of those countries. In your period, the Irish language, Gaelic, had developed to a form not very different from its modern form. However, Gaelic was not the only language spoken in late-period Ireland. English settlers brought their own languages in the 12th century and afterward. Some English names were imported into the Irish name stock, but many were not. The Anglo-Irish families gradually assimilated into Irish culture, but in general they continued to use English-origin names, often in Gaelicized forms, rather than adopting native Gaelic names. It's likely that many people used both Gaelic and English forms of their names, and we have some evidence of the practice from records of this period. The situation was different in Scotland, the other country where Gaelic was an important language. Beginning around the 14th century, the two main languages spoken in Scotland were Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles, and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. Gaelic was the same language spoken in Ireland at this time; Scots was closely related to contemporary English. The languages were very different and had different naming customs. There was some mixing of names from the different cultures, but, as in Ireland, many names were not adopted from one into the other. The naming practices of the two cultures were not mixed; a name was rendered in a Scots or Gaelic form, never a mixture of the two. is an Aramaic name found in the Bible; our sources indicate that it came into use in English in the 19th century [1]. We have not found it recorded anywhere in the British Isles during your period, so we cannot recommend it. You mentioned finding record of a monk by that name circa 1300; we have not found any such citation. It is not impossible, as people often took Biblical names upon entering religious life, even though those names were not in common use. We do not believe the name was used in everyday life during your period in Ireland, Scotland, or England. If you can locate your example and send it to us, we'll be happy to reevaluate our conclusion. , pronounced \EE-ree-@l\, was originally the name of a figure from Irish legend; it was in fairly common use during your period [2, 3, 4]: Irial Ua Lochlainn tighearna Chorc' Modruadh, 1396 Irial Ua Feargail, 1467 Irial h. Fergail, 1467 Cathal mac Irial meic Fedlim h. Raigillig, 1471 In these examples, is an abbreviation for , also given as . The is a grammatical convention; we often see placed before words beginning in vowels. Gaels did not pronounce this as an English speaker would; the element is commonly Anglicized as . There is also a rare name , pronounced \EER\; we find it recorded once in 1486 [2, 3]. Here and throughout the letter, a slash represents an accent over the preceding letter. , despite (or perhaps because of) the association with the New Testament figure, was an uncommon name in the British Isles throughout the Middle Ages [5]. It was especially rare in Ireland, where the names of major religious figures were considered too holy for use by common people [6]. [See addendum below for more information.] It is not impossible that a man of English descent living in Ireland might have been named ; we find various forms of and used as patronymics in England and Scotland [7, 8]. If using this name interests you, write us again and we can provide a variety of period spellings. The history of the modern surnames and is complicated, involving surnames first used in one country and then carried to another by emigrants, and unrelated names that were confused because of similar pronunciation. The full details are outside our scope; if you want to learn more, we recommend you look for the reference works we have listed at footnotes [9] and [11]. The short version is that there are two separate origins involved: One name derived originally from a place in Scotland recorded as in 1341, the other from a Lowland patronymic that meant 'son of Hugh' (a patronymic is a name that indicates who your father is). The two were confused in Scotland at least as early as the second half of the 17th century [11]. Unfortunately, neither of these names is Gaelic. Although was adopted into Gaelic in both Ireland and Scotland, the name itself would never have been used in Gaelic. The place name is no help, since Gaels almost never used surnames based on place names. The only authentic way to use either of these surnames in an Irish name is to incorporate it into an Anglo-Irish name. As you found, is a form of 'son of Hugh'. We find it recorded in England for your period as [9]: Hughson 1310 Huggesone 1327 Howsone 1332 Hwesone 1378 Hughesson 1389 Hewson 1437 Though the name was certainly used in Ireland among the Norman families [10], we don't find any form of used as a clan affiliation name in Ireland. was evidently a very common name in Scotland; there are numerous patronymic bynames meaning 'son of Hugh'; some of these are based on diminutives or pet-forms of , such as and [11]: Howison, 1406, 1450, 1451, 1465 Hugosoun, 1433 Howsone, 1467 Houyson, 1467, 1473 Hughson, 1471 Howyson, 1475 Hughsone, 1483 Houssoune, 1509 Housone, 1509 Howisone, 1519, 1567 Hoveson, 1546 (here should be read as ) Howatson, 1569 As we noted earlier, was adopted into Gaelic in several forms. The Scottish surname is an Anglicized rendering of 'son of Uisden'. is a Scottish Gaelic adaptation of , which was itself a French and English diminutive of . The Gaelic and Scots forms were understood to be equivalent in your period: Scottish documents, written in Latin or Scots, record the same man as in 1494-5 and in 1497. The two forms of his name show different degrees of translation into Scots. His name could have been written entirely in Gaelic as 'Red John, son of Huchon' [12]. So if you want a name that has the same meaning as , then you could use in a Scottish Gaelic name. It was pronounced roughly \mahk OOSH-tchen~\, where \n~\ represents the sound of in Spanish and in French and Italian . , like , is sometimes used as an Anglicization of ; however, it also refers to a place, 'Hugh's village'. We find the following forms in Scotland [13]: of Hoston 1341 de Howistone 1406 de Huyston 1415 Hawystoune 1435 Howstoun 1460 Howstone 1525 Hawstoun 1527 Hawstoune 1550 In these names, is a documentary, or written form, which probably corresponded to in the spoken form. Some of these examples clearly illustrate how and became confused; you can see that, for example, the name 'son of Hugh' would be easily confused with 'Hugh's village', or with . You told us that your first priority was constructing a name with the monogram . We cannot go into a complete discussion here of the uses of initials in the British Isles in your period; however, we can tell you that such uses were uncommon and not at all similar to how we use monograms today [14, 29]. They are particularly ill-suited to Gaelic [15]. A modern three-letter monogram depends on a person having a first name, middle name, and surname all of which are used in the same order, without variation, throughout his life; this simply doesn't describe names as used in any of the cultures of the British Isles in your period. Middle names -- second given names -- began to come into use in English only at the very end of our period, and they weren't used in Scots or Gaelic until much later. In Gaelic, surnames were essentially descriptive rather than being fixed, unchanging parts of a man's name. The same man's name could be recorded in many different forms, depending on the language being used, the context, and the vagaries of period spelling. Although we may be able to help you choose a name in which the main elements can be written to start with particular letters, we do not believe that a Gaelic man would use a monogram, and accordingly we strongly recommend that you not use a monogram in your re-creations. The particular letters you've chosen are especially problematic. Neither

nor was used at the beginning of native Gaelic words, and names beginning with were fairly rare. A few names, such as , were adopted by the Irish Gaels after they were introduced by the Norman settlers from England [16]; most English names, however, were either not adopted by Gaels at all or adopted in a radically altered form [17]. You proposed constructing a Gaelic name with a given name starting with , your father's name starting with

, and a clan name based on . The first two parts are possible, e.g. ; but there is no way to incorporate the English or Scots into a Gaelic name. We noted the Scottish Gaelic equivalent earlier; but we haven't found evidence that this name was used in Irish Gaelic, and of course it doesn't start with . We can suggest three strategies for accomplishing some of your goals, but we cannot suggest any way to construct an authentic name that fits all your requirements. 1. Construct an Irish Gaelic name based on a given name that starts with and a name for your father that starts with

. We mentioned two names earlier, and . The only plausible

name we have found is [16];

is another letter which, like , is not used in native Gaelic words and names. Elements beginning in

have generally been adopted from other cultures. is, however, a fine Irish Gaelic name for your period. Unfortunately, we have not found any authentic way to add a third element to your name that starts with . (You noted correctly in your letters that the third element of an Irish name could identify a man's clan; but we haven't found any clan names that begin with .) 2. Construct a Scottish Gaelic name, along the same lines as in (1), and include the patronymic . Unfortunately, we have found only one period Scottish Gaelic name that begins with , , a Gaelic borrowing of the Norse name [19]. Unlike the Irish Gaels, the Scottish Gaels did not seem to mind using the name ; the common form seems to have been . We find the Scots-language forms in 1414 and in 1488, representing a likely Gaelic form of 'son of Pa/l' [20]. Iomhar son of Pa/l the son of Uisden could have been identified as [21], pronounced \EE-var mahk FAHL~ vik OOSH-tchen~\, where \@\ represents the sound of in and and \L~\ represents a palatalized L, the sound of in French . There are several other choices for

names for your father in Scottish Gaelic; please write again if you'd like other options. Another possibility is, like our () example, to add a descriptive nickname that begins with

and form a name of the form which might be rendered . As we noted earlier,

-words were rare in Gaelic; we don't know of any suitable

descriptives at this time. 3. Construct an Anglo-Irish name (rather than Gaelic). Though your name will look English, the families of Anglo-Norman descent obviously considered themselves Irish by the end of your period, even though they seem to have retained a preference for non-Gaelic names. A couple appropriate -names are and [22, 23, 24, 25]. You could certainly use either or as your father's name [26, 27, 28]; if you'd like other

possibilities, please write again. For the early part of your period, you could add one surname that identified your father and another that identified the place where you were born, for example, or . Toward the end of your period, most English-speakers had fixed family surnames in much the same way we do today. The two names we've suggested here are appropriate for the entire period 1300-1600, but they would have been interpreted differently; after about 1450-1500, would no longer indicate that your father was called . We hope this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. I was assisted in researching and preparing this letter by Arval Benicoeur, Blaise de Cormeilles, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Juliana de Luna, Julie Stampnitzky, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 15 July 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Ira. [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. I/r and Ire/l. [3] 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), volume 4, entries M1486.9, M1396.5, and M1467.8. The first four digits are the year of the events recorded. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005D [4] Cournane, Mavis, Vibeke Dijkman, and Ivonne Tummers, "Annals of Connacht" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997), entries 1467.4 and 1471.9. The first four digits are the year of the events recorded. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011 [5] Withycombe, s.n. Paul. [6] Names like , , and , which are in common modern use in Ireland were virtually never used in medieval Ireland. We have only one example of in Ireland during your period: the "Annals of Connacht"; entry 1384.8 has . Since the full citation indicates that this is a clergyman, we believe that he likely took as a devotional name on entering religious life. [7] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Paul, Paulson. [8] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Paul, Paulson. [9] Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Hughson. [10] "Annals of Connacht" contain the following entries (the first four digits are the year of the events recorded): 1266.15 Huga Mac Gostelb 1436.10 Mac Hughacc a Burc .i. Seonacc We believe based on the full citations, that the individuals named are Anglo-Norman, rather than Gaelic, in origin. We find many more individuals of Norman heritage listed as ; entry 1233.6 shows 'William, son of Hugh de Lacy'. Although we have found some examples of 's name written as , it was always in reference to him, not, as in this example, to his son or descendant. [11] Black, s.nn. Howatson, Howieson, Howson, Hughson. [12] Black, s.n. Machutchen. The author also states, "The Macdonalds of Sleat are descended from Hugh, younger son of Alexander, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, whence the clan designation 'Clann Uisdein' or 'Clann Uisdeann'. Note that, as in Ireland, the has been eliminated from the name. [13] Black, s.n. Houston. [14] Where a modern person might use a monogram, a person from your period would have used their full name or a personal emblem. For example, you may be considering using your monogram as a personal seal. We strongly recommend against that usage: Examples of seals from your period exist, and they did not include monograms. Period seals generally bore a person's full name and some armorial design; for example, Black, s.n. Houston comments that Finlay de Houston, who lived in Scotland circa 1300 had a seal which bore "a fess chequy, with three (indecipherable charges) in chief, and 'S' Finlay de Hovstvn'". Here is an abbreviation for Latin 'seal'; the legend reads, "The seal of Finlay de Houston". [15] Consider our earlier Scottish example of the man known as (Gaelic ), (Gaelic ), and possibly other combinations. Even if he were aware of the concept of a monogram, what would he use? [16] "Annals of Connacht" contain the following entries (the first four digits are the year of the events recorded): 1384.3 Pilip h. Raigillig 1287.2 Pilip Mac Gosdelb 1398.12 Pilip mac Mathgamna Duinn h. Cennedig 1351.2 Pilip Mag Udir 1356.9 Pilip Mag Udir 1470.13 Pilip Mag Uidir ridamna Fer Manach The individual listed above as is unquestionably a Gael, so the name had obviously been adopted into Gaelic use as by 1398. [17] When non-Gaels were mentioned in Gaelic-language records, their names were rendered in Gaelic. Individual elements were converted to Gaelic equivalents and the overall structure was adapted to Gaelic naming customs. For example, we find the name recorded in the Annals of Connacht in 1398 (entry 1398.15). This man was probably English and was known to his own family as or simply [18]. You can see by this example that English names, when rendered in Gaelic, can change dramatically; although the two languages used the same alphabet, they used very different spelling systems that reflected the same sounds in different ways. [18] Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Burke, says, "Burke is a very common Irish name which derives from the family of . went to Ireland in 1171 with Henry II and later became Earl of Ulster." Obviously, earlier in your period, these families would still have a strong Norman identity; by the end of your period, they likely thought of themselves only as Irish. [19] Black, s.nn. MacIver, Ivar. Under Ivar, the author notes the spelling of Ivar Campbell in the first half of the sixteenth century as . [20] Black, s.nn. Macphail, Paul. The change from to in the patronymic is a requirement of Gaelic grammar; is the genitive (possessive) form of . [21] Black, s.nn. MacPhail, MacHouston, and MacKellar have the following examples: Joannes Mallych M'Huston, 1523 Duncan M'Ilpatrik VcKellart, 1553 William Dow McPhayll, 1557 John Dow McPaule, 1579 These are names of Gaels as rendered in Latin or Scots documents. They probably reflect Gaelic forms of (there are several Gaelic descriptive bynames which a Scots-speaker might render as ), , ( means 'black'), and . Based on these examples, we believe it is possible that a man named might have been recorded as or or the like. [22] Withycombe, s.n. Ingram has in 1379 and a Latinized form in 1431. [23] Black, s.n. Ingram has the patronymic surnames in 1330 and in 1476. He mentioned a given name use of dated 1580. [24] Black, s.n. Ivo dates the name to 1261-66. [25] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.n. Ive has in 1306 and in 1379. [26] Withycombe, s.n. Philip. [27] Reaney and Wilson, s.nn. Philip, Philipson. [28] Black, s.nn. Philip, Philp, Philipson. [29] Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977) includes a very few examples of initials used in armory. These generally feature the initial of the family name, sometimes used repeatedly. For example, a seal dated 1362 for John Le Marchant, Bailiff of Guernsey, is given as "...a chevron between three Lombardic M's...". - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Addendum, Arval, 22 July 2004: Subsequent research turned up a few 14th and 15th century examples of Gaels using the name in the Irish Annals. Some of them are clerics, who probably adopted the name for religious reasons; but at least one appears to be a layman.