ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2841 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2841 ************************************ 18 Mar 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if <Danu ingen Diaramit meic Tuathal> is an appropriate name for an Irish Gaelic woman living between 500 and 1000. Here is the information we have found. As we said in our previous correspondence, re-creating Irish names before the mid-7th century is very hard for two reasons: There is very little evidence on which to base re-creations, and what exists is in a form very different from the language that was spoken at the time. The earliest surviving written form of Irish dates from around the 4th century. It was written on stone in the alphabet called "Ogham". When this writing tradition developed, the Irish language was very different from the medieval form -- about as different as Latin is from French. This stage of the language is variously called "Primitive Irish", "Ogam Irish", or "Oghamic Irish". This writing system continued in active use into the 7th century, and while it was in active use, its users tended to write a conservative form of the language corresponding to what was spoken when the system was developed. The spoken language, however, was undergoing considerable change. When a new writing system using Roman letters was developed in the 6th century, its users broke with tradition and wrote a language much closer to what was actually being spoken. This stage of the language, as recorded from the late 7th century to the mid- 10th century, is called Old Irish. The problem with reconstructing names used before the Old Irish period is that the only written forms that we know are the Oghamic forms in the Primitive Irish language, and yet we also know that by the 6th century this written Primitive Irish must have been quite different from the way the language was actually spoken. It takes a good deal of specialized knowledge to put the pieces together and come up with a likely reconstruction of both the written name and its pronunciation. Even with that knowledge, the result is very speculative and at best only an educated guess. Re-creating women's names from this period is especially difficult and chancy because, while we have quite a few examples of men's names in Oghamic inscriptions, we have only one woman's name. We have helped a few clients to choose feminine names from the Oghamic period and we're willing to try again; but we want to be sure that you understand what's involved. The name construction that you have picked is not one that would have been used during the Oghamic period. Therefore, we have focused on a name appropriate for the latter part of your period. <Diaramit> appears to be a typo for <Diarmait>. The masculine names <Diarmait> and <Tuathal> were both in use in the latter half of your period. [1] Because of changes that are required by Gaelic grammar [2], a daughter of <Diarmait>, who was the son of <Tuathal>, would have been known as <ingen Diarmata meic Thuathail>; note how this differs from what you asked us about, <ingen Diaramit meic Tuathal>. The given name <Danu> is much more problematic. We have found evidence of a very early saint named <Danu>, but it is unclear whether she was known by this name or whether this name was given to her many hundreds of years later. One source indicates that <Danu> is in fact a later, scholarly invention which replaced an early name <Anu>. In the 10th century, we find reference to a legendary <Anu> who was the mother of the gods of the Irish. [3] She is also recorded by the name <Ana>. [4] Given that we have no evidence of <Danu> outside of one reference to a legendary saint, we recommend that you do not use this name. We also do not recommend the spellings <Anu> or <Ana>, since, again, the only evidence that we have for these names is as the names of goddesses or legendary saints. We have no evidence that any of these names were used by real people in your period. If you would like to consider alternate given names that were in use in your period, and would be appropriate to use with the byname <ingen Diarmata meic Tuathail>, we can recommend the following names beginning with <D-> [5]: Du/nlaith 774, 794, 799, 940 Dianaim 906 Dub Lemna 941 Here, the slash represents an acute accent over the <u>. Other names appropriate for your period can be found in reference [5]. 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, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Argantguia filia Catmaili -- References: [1] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/irish100 [2] 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/. [3] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.nn. Anu, Danu. [4] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). s.v. Ana [5] 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/ Names for your period can be found at the link: Index of Names in Irish Annals: Feminine Given Names 701 - 1050 http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/701- 1050.shtml