Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 573

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 573

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/573

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

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked our help in forming a name appropriate to Gaelic Scotland in the 1100s, using <Sheona> as your given name and <MacKillop> as your father's name. We apologize for the time it has taken to answer your question; we hope you find the wait worthwhile. Here is what we have found.

<Sheona> is a modern name, an anglicization of the modern Scottish Gaelic name <Seo\na>. (The slash represents a long accent on the preceding vowel, used only in modern Scottish Gaelic; / would represent a sharp accent.) We're not exactly sure how <Seo\na> evolved. It came from some member of the family of names derived from <Jane> and <Joan>, but it is first recorded in modern times [3].

We can suggest some period Gaelic names which sound similar and which aren also derived from the roots <Jane> or <Joan>. These names are found in 12th century Ireland rather than Scotland, but very similar or identical names may have been used in Gaelic Scotland as well [1]. The names are given here with pronunications.

Sinéad \SHEE-nyet\ A borrowing of the French and English diminutives Sineaid \SHEE-nyitch\ Another form Sibán \SHEE-vahn\ A borrowing of the Norman <Jehane>

<MacKillop> is a Scots spelling of the Gaelic patronymic <Mac Fhilib> "son of Phillip" [2]. Scots was one of the languages spoken in Scotland in the 12th century. It is a language very similar to contemporary English, spoken mostly in the south of Scotland. Scots names were very similar to English names; so both <Johanna> and <Phillip> are quite likely to have been used by 12th century Scots [4]. A Scots "Johanna, daughter of Phillip" could have been called <Jehanne fille de Phillip> (using Anglo-Norman grammar and spellings [1]) or <Jhoan Phelippe> (using Scots grammar, a 12th C spelling of <Johanna>, and a 13th C Scots form of <Phillip> [2, 4]). Her name would have been written in Latin <Johanna filia Phillipi>.

The Scots name <Phillip> had not yet been adopted into Gaelic in the 12th century. The first examples we find of the Scottish Gaelic name <Filib> are from the 15th century: <Finlaius Macpilibh> 1433, <Fynlaius Macphilib> 1437, <William Makillop> 1526 [2]. According to our data, the form <MacKillop> could not have existed until the 16th century. Note that at any time in our period, anyone called <mac Fhilib> would actually have been the son of a man named <Filib>. Gaelic patronymics were not inherited as surnames until after our period.

Unless you want to move your persona to the 15th or 16th century, there is no way you can correctly use a Gaelic patronymic based on the name <Phillip>. If you do want to move your persona that late, then you could use a name that means "Seónaid, daughter of Filib": <Seónaid inghean

Fhilib>, pronounced \SHO-nitch NEE-yen ILL-ip\. <Seónaid> is a
hypothetical late-period Scottish Gaelic name derived from Scots <Jonet>. If you want to use <Sibán> in this period, we recommend the spelling <Siobhán> [1].

We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. We were assisted in researching and writing this letter by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn and Effric nin Kenneoch.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur and Alan Fairfax


References

[1] O/ Corráin, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names (Dublin: The

Lilliput Press, 1990).

[2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and

History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986).

[3] Morgan, Peadar, _Ainmean Chloinne: Scottish Gaelic Names for Children_

(Scotland: Taigh na Teud Music Publishers, 1989).

[4] Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd

ed. (Oxford University Press).