ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3058 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3058 ************************************ 5 May 2005 From: Josh Mittleman (no address) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Irish woman living between 1350 and 1550. In past research, we have found examples of in use from the 12th century to the 15th century. In the 12th century, the name was typically spelled (where the slashes in the names represent acute accent marks over the preceding vowel); the spelling was used only after 1200 [1]. The name you've chosen for your father, (also spelled ), is also a fine choice; but we have only found it in use from the 8th century to the 11th [1, 2]. If you want a name suitable for the 14th-16th centuries, then we strongly recommend you choose a different name for your father. Reference [1] is an excellent place to find names that were used in the period you want to re-create. If you are willing to change your period to accomodate your name, then we can recommend as a name for a woman living around 1100: The latest example we have of is in 1091, while the earliest example of is a woman who died in 1104 [1]. You'll notice that we've written your father's name on its own as , but changed it to in your name [4]. The change of the 'e' to 'i' puts the name into its genitive (possessive) form, to produce a phrase meaning "Cenn-fa/elad's daughter". The added 'h' reflects a change in pronunciation called 'lenition' which is required by Irish grammar in some circumstances [3]. Around 1100, your name was pronounced roughly \AY-deen EEN-y@n HYIN-FAL-@dh\. The symbol \@\ stands for the sound of the in , \A\ in the syllable \FAL\ stands for the vowel in , and \dh\ stands for the voiced sound in words like and . If you have further questions or if any part of this report is unclear, please write us again. I was assisted in preparing this Talan Gwynek and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. Arval for the Academy 5 May 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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] 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 [3] The grammar of Irish names, including lenition, is discussed in the article Quick and Easy Gaelic Names, on the web at http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ [4] The first element is the Old Irish word for "head", spelled earlier and after 1200 or so. The genitive of is . Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. cenn.