ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2594 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2594 ************************************ From: Sara L Friedemann 03 Nov 2002 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help creating an authentic name for an Irishwoman living between 1550 and 1650, with as your given name and as your father's name. You also asked about the descriptive byname , which means "of the sails," and you wished to use as a nickname for your father. Here is the information we have found. is a modern spelling of a name more commonly spelled in your period. (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter). is an excellent choice for your name; we find it 8 times between 1239 and 1527. [1] It was pronounced \LAHS-ir-REE-na\, with the \i\ as in . The name was carried to the British Isles by the Normans, where it was adopted into Gaelic as , with roughly the same pronunciation. [2] We have 18 examples of the name from 1300 on. [1] It is a fine choice for your father's name, and the appropriate byname meaning "daughter of Uilliam" is , pronounced \ EEN-y@n WILL-y@m\, where the \@\ is the sound of in or . We found one example of the byname in 1568; it means "of the sails", and was recorded of someone who was either known for his sailmaking or for his skills in sailing. [1] It was pronounced \nah SHOHL-t@gh\, where \gh\ represents a voiced \kh\, the sound of in Scottish or German and \OH\ the sound of in . In summary, , "Lasairfhi/ona daughter of Uilliam of the sails," is a fine name for your period. It would have been pronounced \LAHS-ir-REE-na EEN-y@n WILL-y@m nah SHOHL-t@gh\. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Eoin Caimbeul, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, -Argantgui filia Catmaili, 03Nov02 -- References: [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Uilliam --