ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3239 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3239 ************************************ 3 Dec 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for a 12th-century Irish man. Here is what we have found. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you. is a later-period spelling of a name which was spelled during your period. As we found a number of 12th century examples of , it is a fine choice for your given name. [1] During your period, the name was pronounced roughly \MAGH-n@s\, where \@\ is the sound of in or , and \GH\ is the voiced version of \KH\, the sound of in Scottish or German . The masculine name (where the slashes represent acute accents over the previous letters) is found in 1128 and 1161, so it's also an authentic choice for your father's name. [1] For the 12th century, the correct byname meaning 'son of Fa/ela/n' is , which was pronounced roughly \mahk FEH-lahn^\, where \n^\ is the sound of in French 'mountain' for the byname. Descriptive bynames (nicknames) based on animals were rare in medieval Gaelic. We have found only two examples: 'hound' which we find used by one man who lived at the end of the sixth/beginning of the seventh century, and 'fox', which we find first in 1077, and then sporadically in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries. [1] Because our only example of is from nearly five centuries before your desired period, and because we do not have a strong pattern of bynames taken from animal names in Gaelic during the 12th century, we cannot recommend as good re-creation. You noted that you found a number of given names which contain the element , such as and . [1] These compound given names unfortunately do not give any support for using as an independent nickname; the compound names were for all intents and purposes considered to be a single name, much as sometimes is today. 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 Adelaide de Beaumont, Mari neyn Brian, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 03 December 2006 -- References: [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2006). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/