Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel.
You asked whether <Duva> was a surname or a given name, and whether it would be appropriate as a given name for a Scottish noblewoman sometime between 1000 and 1400. You indicated that you would keep your surname in the Buchanan clan. You also asked whether you needed an Award of Arms or a warrior persona to have arms. Here's what we found.
The name <Duva> derives from the Old English word for "dove". We found the name <Duva de Tresk'> recorded in Yorkshire in 1219 as well as the variants <Doue> in 1195, also in Yorkshire, and <Duua> between 1154 and 1189 in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. [1]. In all three cases, the name is pronounced /DOO vah/; substituting the letter u for the letter v is a common medieval scribal convention. While we found no examples of <Duva> as a given name in Scotland, Yorkshire is probably close enough to Scotland that the name might have been found on the borders.
Before discussing your surname, it is necessary to provide some background on Scottish culture, language, and clans. In your period, Scotland encompassed two languages and cultures: The Highlands, where people generally spoke Scottish Gaelic, and the Lowlands, where people generally spoke Scots. Scots is a language very similar to English. Because most Scottish records were written in either Latin or Scots, there are Scots form of most Scottish Gaelic names. However, there are many names found in Scots that have no Scottish Gaelic equivalent.
Names and naming practices in the two languages are fairly different. Scots, for example, uses surnames derived from placenames, but this practice is unknown in Scottish Gaelic. Furthermore, Period Gaelic names did not include clan affiliation (except in the case of some chieftains and their immediate families). Instead, Gaelic bynames were patronymic, identifying the bearers' father's name or, occasionally, his profession. For example, the name <Aed MacAilin> translates to "Aed, son of Allan".
The name <Buchanan> is derived from lands of that name in Stirlingshire; the family that currently bears that name was first granted these lands in the early 13th century. We found the following variants from the 13th century:
Notice that all these forms include the preposition <de>, and thus mean "of Buchanan". The surname was first used by the men who owned the lands of Buchanan; it does not appear to have been a clan name in the 13th century. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the first owners of the Buchanan lands and name were Gaelic speakers, as we have both Gaelic and Scots style names for some early bearers of that name. For example, Malcolm de Bougheannan is also recorded as Malcolm Macabsolon. It is unlikely that any member of this family would have been named <Duva>. <Duva> is an Old English name which does not appear to have been adopted into Gaelic culture, and it apparently dropped out of use about the time that the <Buchanan> family was founded.
However, if you still want to use <Duva> and a form of <Buchanan>, we believe that <Duva de Buchanan> <Duva de Buchkan>, or <Duva de
Bougheannan> are possible, though unlikely, names for a 13th century
lowland Scotswoman.
Every SCA member is encouraged to design and use arms. You do not need to be a fighter or to have an Award of Arms. In the Society, your arms are conventionally called a "device" before you have an AoA and "arms" afterward; this distinction is unique to the Society.
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. Arval d'Espas Nord, Lindorm Eriksson, Affrik neyn Kenyeoch vc Harrald, and Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn aided in researching and writing this letter.
In Service,
Margaret Makafee
[1] Talan Gwynek. Feminine Given Names in "A Dictionary of English Surnames". (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1994)
[2] Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland. New York Public Library, 1946