ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2379
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2379
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From: "Sara L Friedemann" 
29 Nov 2001

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Eile ingen Ruaidri> and <Guaire mac Aengus>
would be correct names for a Gaelic woman and man living in 8th-10th
century Scotland.  Here is the information we have found.

During your period, Gaelic Ireland and Gaelic Scotland were still
somewhat similar in culture; though the two cultures had begun to
diverge, they were not as distinct yet as they would be later, and
their name pools were still similar.  If a name was fairly common in
Ireland, it is plausible that it was also used in Scotland, even if
we have found no direct evidence for its use.  Because our sources
for early period Scottish Gaelic feminine names are quite slim, we
have therefore made recommendations based on both Irish and Scottish
Gaelic usage.

<E/ile> or <E/le> was the name of an Irish legendary figure, the
sister of Medb and Uaithne.  (The slash represents an accent over the
previous letter).  While we were unable to find any evidence that
<E/ile> was used by real people in either Ireland or Scotland in your
period, both of the names <Medb> and <Uaithne> were used throughout
the Middle Ages in Ireland. [1]  It is possible that <E/ile> was also
used in early period Ireland, but we have found no explicit evidence
that it was.  Furthermore, we found no evidence at all that either
<E/ile> or either of <Medb> or <Uaithne> were used in Scotland at any
time; this could reflect the fact that our sources for Scottish
Gaelic feminine names are very slim, or that the name was not in use
at all.  <E/ile> was pronounced \AY-l~@\, where \L~\ is a palatalized-
L, pronounced like Spanish "ll".  The \@\ is the schwa, much like
the "a" at the end of <sofa>.

If you would like to consider a different given name, we recommend
you return to the article you looked at before:

  "Early Irish Feminine Names"
  http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/obrien/

As you can see, not all of the names in this article are appropriate
for a Scottish Gaelic persona.  If any of these names interest you,
please write us again and we'll be happy to tell you if we think it
would be an appropriate choice.

<Ruaidri/> was also common in medieval Ireland. [1]  The spelling
<Ruadri> is found in Scotland in 1131.  We also found the Latin forms
<Rothri> and <Rotheri> in the 12th century. [2]  While we did not
find the name in your period in Scotland, it doesn't seem
unreasonable that it was in use by the end of your period.  The
appropriate byname meaning "daughter of Ruadri" is <ingen Ruaidri/>,
pronounced \EEN-y@n ROO-@-dhree\, where \dh\ is the voiced \th\, the sound
of <th> in <this> and <bathe>, but not in <bath>.

<Guaire> was a popular name in early Ireland. [1]  In Scotland, it
gave rise to the anglicized surname <MacQuarrie>, which is found
throughout the Middle Ages.  This is an excellent choice for your
husband's name. [2]  It was pronounced \GOO-@r-y@\.

The name <A/engus> was also quite common in both early Ireland and
Scotland; among other examples, we find it as <Onnust>, the name of
Pictish king who died ca. 761. [2]  It is an excellent choice for
your husband's father's name.  The appropriate form of a byname
meaning "son of A/engus" is <mac A/engusa>.  The change from
<A/engus> to <A/engusa> is a grammatical requirement; it is analogous
to the change from <John> to <John's> in forming the possessive.  The
byname <mac A/engusa> would have been pronounced \mahk EN-ghus@\,
with the \u\ pronounced as in <put>.  \gh\ represents a sound not
used in English; it is the voiced equivalent of \kh\, the rasping
<ch> sound in the Scottish word <loch> or German <Bach>.  "Voiced"
means pronounced while vibrating your vocal cords; \gh\ is related to
\kh\ in the same way as the \g\ in <gill> (as in a fish's gill) is related
to the \k\ in <kill>, or the \f\ in <fine> is related to the \v\ in <vine>.

In summary, <E/ile ingen Ruaidri/> would be a possible, though not
particularly plausible, early period Scottish Gaelic feminine name, while
<Guaire mac A/engusa> is a fine masculine name from the same period.

We hope that 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.  Research and commentary on this letter were
provided by Adelaide de Beaumont, Maridonna Benvenuti, Arval
Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Africa filia Kennoci, and Ursula Georges.

For the Academy,
~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 29Nov01

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References:

[1] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin:
The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Eile, Guaire, Medb, Ruaidri/, Uaithne

[2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin,
Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986).
s.nn. Angus, McQuarrie, Rory