ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3286 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3286 ************************************ 26 Mar 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked if we could recommend a Gaelic form of your modern name which is authentic for an Irish man living before 1500. Here is what we have found. is a modern English form of the early Gaelic name or (where the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter). The latest example of this name that we've found is from 770 [1], so if you want to use this as your given name, we recommend that you place your persona no later than the end of the 8th century. In the 8th century, both spellings of the name were pronounced roughly \BRAY-nahn^\, where \n^\ is the sound of in . The surname is likewise a modern English form. The root of is the Gaelic clan name (this spelling is appropriate for c. 1200 to c. 1700). [2] The root of is , which was originally a descriptive byname meaning 'dark foreigner', used to describe the invading Danes. The earliest example of the byname that we found is from 870. [3] The byname then came to be used as a given name, and the earliest example that we found of as a given name is a man who died in 925. [4] We therefore cannot recommend a form of your modern surname which is appropriate for the period when and were in use. However, we can offer an alternative. While appears to have fallen out of use at a fairly early date, because it was the name of a saint we find it used in devotional given names in a later period. We find in 1134 and in 1161. [1] Either of these would be appropriate to use with the byname , which is the 12th century form of , e.g.: Gilla Bre/nainn ua Dubgaill Ma/el Bre/nainn ua Dubgaill These would have been pronounced roughly \GIL-l@ BRAY-nahn^ oo@ DOOBH-gh@l^\ \MAL\ or \MEL BRAY-nahn^ oo@ DOOBH-gh@l^\ where \@\ is the sound of in or \BH\ is the sound of or in Spanish and [5] \gh\ is the voiced version of \kh\, the sound of in Scottish or German \l^\ is the sound of in French and Italian 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, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 26 March 2007 -- 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/ [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Doyle [3] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh & Mavis Cournane, "The Annals of Ulster" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001A/ [U870.entry 7] Mael Sechnaill m. Neill, leth-ri Deisceirt Bregh, interfectus est dolose o Ulf Dubgall. [4] Fa"rber, Beatrix, & Ruth Murphy, eds., "Chronicon Scotorum" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland., 2003) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100016/ [CS925] Dubgall mac Aodha ridamhna Uladh [5] This sound is made by positioning your lips to say a \b\, but relaxing them slightly so that the air escapes.