ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3159 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3159 ************************************ 24 Aug 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for a mid 14th-century Scottish Lowlander. Here is what we have found. The name is a pet form of used in Scots-language (Lowland) names. We found the following spellings of this name: Cristal 14th c. [1] Cristall 14th c., 1549 [1,2] Cristole 14th c. [1] Crystall 14th c. [1] Crystoll 14th c. [1] Cristoll 1474 [2] Christall 1561 [2] As you can see, is a fine choice for your given name. Some form of is also a fine choice for the 14th century, but this specific spelling may not be. We found the following forms during and after your period: [3] M'Alayne 1376 M'Callan 1476 M'Callane 1476 M'Allan 1477 McCallane 1504 McAllane 1541 MacCallan 1550 M'Allane 1555 Macallan 1578 McAllan 1600 We recommend the spelling for your period. There are many place names in Scotland called , with the most prominent one being in Ayrshire. We found in 1226, 1230; 1249, 1296, and just plain in the 14th century. [1,4] In most circumstances, you would have used just one byname at a time, e.g. or , but not . However, in the early 15th century we did find a few examples of men recorded with two bynames, including: [5] Jhon Mour de Sanchar John Chamer de Gadyard Robert Mour de Skeldowy In these examples, the second byname could be functioning more as an address, and not be technically part of the name itself. Based on this, it's possible that in some circumstances, your name might have been recorded as . However, we have to stress that this was not typical during your period, and in no circumstances would you have been known as . 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 you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Juliana de Luna, Maridonna Benvenuti, Ari Ansson, Talan Gwynek, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 24 August 2006 -- References: [1] Symon Freser of Lovat, "13th & 14th Century Scottish Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/symonFreser/scottish14/ [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Chrystal. [3] Black, op. cit., s.n. Macallan. [4] Black, op. cit., s.n. Logan. [5] Black, op. cit., p. xxiv