ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3047 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3047 ************************************ 18 Aug 2005 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help coming up with names for yourself, your wife, and your two sons that would be appropriate for Irish people living between 1000 and 1200, using as a byname the precursor to the modern surname . Here is the information we have found. As we discussed earlier, your choice of given name, , and your wife's choice of given name, , are fine choices for your period. (Throughout this letter we'll use the slash to represent an acute accent over the previous letter.) was a popular name throughout the early period, and we found in the 12th century. [1,2,3] At the beginning of your period, was pronounced roughly \KAH-th@l\, though by the end of your period it was \KAH-h@l\, at least in some dialects. was pronouced roughly \KAH-shay-n^@\, where \n^\ is the sound of in , and \@\ is the sound of in or . We found in 980, 1201, and 1313, and 18 times between the 7th and early 13th centuries. [2] They are fine choices for your sons's names. was pronounced roughly \TEE-y@r-nahn\. In the beginning of your period, was pronounced roughly \FEY-lahn\, where \EY\ rhymes with ; by the end of your period the vowel in the first syllable was probably more like \Aee\, where \A\ is the sound of in . Your wife's byname, , is also a fine choice; was found in 976, 1154, and 1158 [2]; would have been pronounced roughly \EEN-y@n ee TEYDHG\, where \EY\ is the vowel of , and \DH\ is the sound of in . The modern surname derived from a masculine given name that was spelled in your period as . was an extremely common name in early and medieval Ireland. [3] The appropriate masculine byname for your period meaning "member of the O Murdoch clan" is . This is a fine byname for both you and your sons. was pronounced roughly \MOOR-ch@r-tey\, where \ch\ is the soft German in . If your sons also want to indicate that you are their father, the appropriate byname is , pronounced \mahk KAH-th@l^\ towards the beginning of your period and \mahk KAH-h@l^\ towards the end, where \l^\ is a palatalized , the sound of in the French word 'million' and Italian 'of the'. This sound does not occur in native English words. In sum, the following names are all good recreation for your period: Cathal hua Muirchertaig Caisse/ne ingen hui/ Taidc Tigerna/n mac Cathail hui/ Muirchertaig Fa/ela/n mac Cathail hui/ Muirchertaig 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 Arval Benicoeur, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, and Alzbeta Michalik. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 18 August 2005 -- 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] 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/ [3] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.nn. Caisse/ne, Muirchertach