Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 583

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 583

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/583

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 a Scottish Gaelic name that is the equivalent of "Geoffrey." I apologize for the long delay in getting this letter to you.

Strictly speaking, there is no Gaelic equivalent to <Geoffrey>. <Geoffrey> is an Anglo-French name that is derived by way of Old French from at least two Continental Germanic names that became confused with one another over time. The Old French name was introduced into Scotland by the Normans who settled there in the late 11th century. It became a fairly common Scots name--we found 13 different spellings from various times including "Gosfrid," "Gaufrid," and "Goisfrid." The spelling "Geffrey" appears in 1273. (1)

Most Scots and English names weren't used in Gaelic until after our period (Scots is a language similar to English which was spoken in Scotland at this time). However, there is a Scottish Gaelic name "Gofraigh" which is related to "Geoffrey" in a roundabout way. "Gofraigh" is borrowed from the Old Norse name "Gu{dh}fro:{dh}r" ("o:" represents "o" with an umlaut over it and {dh} represents the letter "edh," which is pronounced roughly like "th" in "then"). This Old Norse name is related to Continental Germanic "Godefrid", which was occasionally confused with the names that eventually became "Geoffrey."

So, "Geoffrey" and "Gofraigh" do share a common ancestor, although very distantly. Nevertheless, the names were sufficiently similar that "Geoffrey" (in various forms) was used as a Scots substitute for Gaelic "Gofraigh."

In addition to the spelling "Gofraigh," we found "Gofruigh." Either of these would be appropriate for your persona. Whichever spelling you use, you would pronounce the name roughly like "GO-frey" where the "y" sounds like the one at the beginning of "yet."

Generally, you would also be identified with a patronymic (a name meaning "son of <father>.") In Scottish Gaelic patronymics generally use "mac." If you'd like information on a specific patronymic, or more information on Scottish names, let us know.

Talan Gwynek, Effric neyn Kenyeoch, Arval Benicoeur, and Lindorm Eriksson contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Black, G. "The Surnames of Scotland."