Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 469

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 469

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/469

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on your desired late-period Irish name, "Morton Leonanam."

Unfortunately, "Morton" isn't an Irish first name and "Leonanam" isn't an Irish byname. However, we do have some suggestions which may be helpful.

"Morton" was only used as a byname, not as a first name. It was originally the name of several English places, and was brought into Scotland and Ireland by the Normans. It was never a first name, and wouldn't have been used at all by a native Irishman.

The closest Gaelic first name we found to "Morton" was "Morann," which would be appropriate for your period. (1)

The medieval Gaelic word for "lion" is "léo," borrowed from the Latin. "léo" itself was used as a nickname for a warrior, (2) so you could use it as a byname. This would give you the name

Morann Léo

Usually even a man identified with a nickname would also be identified by the name of his father. This would give you

Morann Léo mac <father's name>

Your father's name would be modified for grammatical reasons, but we could help you figure out the exact spelling. If you need a list of Irish names, the best source is the book "Irish Names" by O'Corrain & Maguire. If you use this book, avoid any names which are described as "early." This is be a good source for other given names as well.

Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn and Talan Gwynek contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can keep working with you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel