ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2692 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2692 ************************************ From: "Lisa and Ken Theriot" 12 Jun 2003 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether <Diarmid> is an appropriate name for a man living in Scotland between 1200 and 1300. You told us that you believed the name to be related to your modern name <Jeremy>. Here is the information we have found. Throughout your period, 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. English was also spoken in Ireland, having been brought in by Anglo-Norman settlers beginning in the 12th century. Names were formed quite differently in the two languages, and the two styles of naming did not mix. You asked about a Gaelic name, so we'll concentrate on the Gaelic naming conventions. The written language of Scotland before the 14th century was Latin. Scots rose as a written language in the late 14th century and became increasingly important over the next two centuries; Latin remained in use for various kinds of documents into the 17th century. Gaelic was sometimes used as a written language in Scotland from at least the 12th century, but few Scottish Gaelic records survive; accordingly, we usually find Gaelic names recorded in different ways than someone writing in Gaelic would have used. In order to find a Gaelic name written in Gaelic, we often have to look to Ireland where we have much better Gaelic-language evidence. <Diarmait> was one of the most popular names in early Ireland, probably because of the legendary hero of that name [1]. It was certainly still popular in Ireland in your period; we find several examples of the name from Irish Gaelic records [2]. For your period, we believe the most appropriate spelling is a later form, <Diarmaid> [1]. We have less evidence for the name in Scotland. This could be a factor of the small amount of Gaelic name examples we have from Scotland, or it could actually indicate that the name was less popular in Scotland than in Ireland. <Diarmaid> appears in a genealogy written in 1467; however, the name is over 20 generations removed, so even if the example is genuine, it's far too early for your period [3, 4]. We have more examples of byname forms. Gaelic-speakers were generally known by patronymics, or bynames based on their father's given name, and these names were used literally: a man known as <mac Uilliam> actually had a father named <Uilliam> [5]. We find the following examples of patronymics which appear to be based on <Diarmaid>; note that these examples were recorded in Latin and Scots records, not in Gaelic [4]: Nemeas Mactarmayt, 1427 John Makeyrmit, 1502 Jhone Makhermyk, 1529 Jhone McChormeit, 1533 As you can see, these names don't look very much like <Diarmaid>. Gaelic names in Latin and Scots documents are frequently rendered phonetically, so the spelling reflects what the writer thought the name sounded like. Gaelic bynames frequently show a softening of certain consonant sounds, called lenition, which can lead a non-Gaelic speaker to record a Gaelic byname like <mac Dhiarmaid> as <Makeyrmit>, because that's how it sounds to them [6]. (Here the lenition is reflected by inserting the letter <h> after the initial consonant.) You'll note by the dates that these examples are all well after your period, so it appears that <Diarmaid> may not have been used in your period in Scotland. It's possible that it was, and we just have no examples, but if your period is of paramount importance to you, <Diarmaid> is much more likely in Ireland than in Scotland. Based on our evidence, we can't recommend <Diarmaid> for a man's name in Scotland before the late 14th century or so, but it is possible the name was used earlier. It is a fine name for an Irish Gaelic man in your period, however. As we mentioned in earlier correspondence, <Diarmait> has been associated with <Jeremy> and other English names like <Jerome>, though it is totally unrelated [1]. The association was probably made based on a similarity of sound; in your period we believe <Diarmaid> was pronounced \JAR-mahtch\. We believe this association occurred well after your period in any case. We can tell you the etymological roots of most names, but it's a mistake to think that they would have had any significance to the people who used those names in the Middle Ages. In your period, when people didn't have stacks of baby-name books to tell them the etymologies of names, most people had no idea of the origin of names. They chose names for their children based on the names' associations with family members, saints, royalty, etc. Some common names, like <John>, had forms in many languages and were, in effect, "translated": An Italian man named <Giovanni> who moved to England would probably be called <John>. Less common names, like <Jeremy>, were typically rendered in a form that approximated the sound for the local people. If the name <Jeremy> is important to you, you might like to know that we find it recorded in England in 1239, making it a fine name for an Englishman in your period [7]. A Gaelic-speaking man in your period would typically be known by a patronymic; we recommend that you choose a given name for your father. You can find a list of choices on the web: Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/ Scottish Gaelic Given Names http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven/ If you select a name for your father and are unsure of how to form the patronymic, please write again and we'll be happy to help you. 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 Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna Benvenuti, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 12 June 2003 References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Diarmait. The authors note, "Despite the many suggestions that have been made, we can attach no definite meaning to this old name which is one of the twenty or so most popular names in early Ireland." [2] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002 http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine [3] Skene, William F., "Genealogies of the Highland Clans, Extracted from Ancient Gaelic MSS.: 1. Gaelic MS. Written circa A.D. 1450, with a Translation,", pp 50-62, and "Genealogies of the Highland Clans, Extracted from Ancient Gaelic MSS.: 2. Gaelic MS. Written circa A.D. 1450, continued," pp. 357-60, _Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis consisting of Original Papers and Documents Relating to the History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_, ed. The Iona Club (Edinburgh: Thomas G. Stevenson, 1847), folio 1, rectum, column C. [4] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Macdairmid, Dermid. Black notes that the Latin <Diormitius> is given as the name of the faithful attendant of Saint Columba at his monastery on Iona by his biographer, Adamnan. The biography was written circa 700, and this <Diormitius> was likely Irish as Columba was. [5] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "Quick and Easy Gaelic Names (3rd Edition)" (WWW: Privately published, 22 Jun 2001). http://www.MedievalScotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ [6] If you'd like to know more about how lenition works, we recommend this article: "The Spelling of Lenited Consonants in Gaelic" http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotlang/lenition.shtml [7] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.nn. Jeremiah, Jeremy.