ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2817 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2817 ************************************ 18 Mar 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help creating a name appropriate for an Irish woman, wife of a man named , living in the late 16th century, using perhaps as your given name and a name starting with as your father's name. Here is the information we have found. We apologize for the amount of time it has taken to complete this report, and hope that the information is still useful to you. is a fine choice for your given name. We find it in 1500 and 1530, but believe that it was still in use in the latter half of the century as well. [1,2] It was pronounced \SORE-kh@\, where \kh\ represents the rasping sound in the Scottish word or German , and \@\ stands for schwa, the sound of the in and . We can suggest a few men's names that were used in the 16th century. [1] We have given each name in standard spellings [6] in two forms: The nominative form, which is the form of the name used as the subject of a sentence or when addressing a person by name; and the patronymic meaning "daughter of X" that you would use in your name. The differences between the nominative form of the name and the one inclued in the patronymic reflect changes in pronunciation required by Gaelic grammar [7]. Below many of the names we have listed the pronunciation; if you are interested in the pronunciation of a name that doesn't have one listed, please write us again and we can research this for you. Nominative Patronymic ---------- ---------- Maghnus inghean Mhaghnusa, inghean Mhaghnuis [3] \MAH-noos\ \EEN-y@n VAH-noosa\, \EEN-y@n VAH-noosh\ Maol Mhuire inghean Mhaoil Mhuire \MULL VUR-@\ \EEN-y@n VULL VUR-@\ Maolruanaidh inghean Mhaoilruanaidh \MULL ROO-nee\ \EEN-y@n VULL ROO-nee\ Mathghamhain inghean Mhathghamhna \mah-GHUV-ahn~\ \EEN-y@n vah-GHUV-na\ Meanma inghean Mheanman, inghean Mheanma [4] Muircheartach inghean Mhuircheartaigh Murchadh inghean Mhurchaidh \MUR-kha\ \EEN-y@n VUR-kha\ Any of these would be a fine choice for your byname. In these pronunciations, \@\ is the sound of in or , \kh\ is the sound of in Scottish or German , and \gh\ is the voiced version of this sound (i.e., vibrate your vocal cords while you make this sound). You may also be interested in a byname that indicates that you are the wife of a man named (the Gaelic form of ). [1] Examples of such constructions that we have found include: [5,1] Maire inghean Chuinn I Neill, bean t-Somhairle Buidhe Mec Domhnaill Mo/r inghe_n Aodha mic Pilib na Tuaighe Me/g Uidhir be_n Airt mic Eoghain Ui/ Ne/ill Mor inghean I Briain (.i. Toirrdhealbhach mac Taidhcc) bean Donnchaidh mic Mathghamhna I Briain Mo/r inghe_n Donnchaidh, mic Se_ain, mic Maol Ruanaidh na Fe/so/icce mic Taidhcc Ui/ Ce_rbhaill, ben Mheic Ui/ Bhriain Ara Sadhbh, ingen Mhic Gaffraigh, .i. ben Cathail Moir Mic Magnusa Sadb ingen Ui Duibgendain, ben Ghillacoluim mic Maol Muire mic Briain O/ig Grainne ingh_en Me/g Uidhir (.i. Emann) be_n Pilip mic T Toirrdhealbhaigh Ingen Mhe/g Uidhir, .i. Gra/ine, ingen Emhuinn Mhe/g Uidhir, ben Pilib, mic Toirrdelbaigh Mhe/g Uidhir Graine Og, ingin Ui Uiginn, .i. ben Fedhli/m Ui Doibhilen Grainne inghe_n Maghnusa, mic Aodha, mic Aodha Ruaidh be_n Ui/ Ruairc Brian mac Eocchain Finnghuala inghen Ruaidri Oicc meic Ruaidri Caoich ben hSeain meic Taidc meic Briain Meic Donnchada Gormlaidh inghe_n Ui/ Dhomhnaill (Aodh Ruadh) be_n Aodha mic Neill mic Cuinn I Ne/ill Lasairfhina, ingen Tomais Moir, Mic Briain Mic Maghnusa, ben Domnaill h-Ui Ceothain These examples are all primarily from the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Based on these examples, a woman named Sorcha, daughter of Maghnus, who was the wife of Uilliam Mac Giolla Ruaidh, could have been known as in a formal written record. As with patronymics above, some changes in spelling and grammar are required in the part of the name follow . In your period, your name could have been recorded in either Gaelic or English. The spellings we've recommended above are Gaelic spellings. Since your husband is interested in an anglicized name, we thought you might also be interested in an English spelling. If this does interest you, please write us again once you've picked your patronym, and we'll be happy to research plausible English spellings of your name. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Mari neyn Brian, Richenda de Jardin, Juliana de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, Effrick neyn Kennyeoch, Talan Gwynek, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 18Mar2004 --- References: [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). 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. Sorcha [3] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation). s.n. Mac Maghnuis. Whether the genitive of was or depended on the dialect. is older, and more common during the SCA period. [4] Woulfe, op. cit., s.nn. Mac Meanma, Mac Meanman, Mac Mheanma [5] Mavis Cournane, Donnchadh O/ Corra/in, ed., "Annals of the Four Masters, Volume 5" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1998), entries M1501-M1588. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005E/ [6] Gaelic orthography had fairly fixed rules; accordingly, we can construct a spelling which we have not actually found in period records. This is called a normalized spelling, which can be thought of as the theoretically correct spelling according to the rules for the period under consideration rather than the most common spellings actually found. [7] 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/.