Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 707

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 707

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/707

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

Later research turned up additional information relevant to this report. See the end of the letter for details.

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked whether the name <Eufemie ingen Leod> was accurate for a Gaelic-speaking noblewoman of the 13th century. You also asked what sorts of variations might occur in the written form of the name. Finally, you asked whether Gaelic women's names from that period ever used locative bynames (i.e., referring to a place of origin or residence) instead of the usual patronymic bynames.

First, we noticed that although you asked about a name for a 13th century persona, i.e., one from the period 1201-1300, the range of dates that you specified was 1350-1450. We have tried to address both possibilities in our comments.

During this period the two main languages spoken in Scotland were Gaelic and Scots, a language closely related to English. In 1200 Scots was largely confined to the south of Scotland; by 1450 it had gained considerable ground, having become the language of the royal court and burghs (towns). The Scots-speaking and Gaelic-speaking cultures had different naming practices. These practices didn't mix, though there was some borrowing of individual names in both directions, with modifications to adapt them to the borrowing language.

<Eufemie>, though recorded in Scotland in 1263, is a Scots name and seems to be found only in Scots contexts at least until the late 16th century. [3] This seems to rule it out as a possible given name for a woman from the Gaelic-speaking culture of your period. The patronymic byname, on the other hand, is purely Gaelic. (It also needs a couple of small corrections. At the beginning of your period it might still have been written <ingen Leoid>, but for most of your period the more or less standard spelling was <inghean Leoid>. [5] This is pronounced roughly \NEE-yen LOATCH\.)

In short, <Eufemie> is a fine name for your period, but not for a Gaelic-speaking noblewoman. And <inghean Leoid> 'daughter of Leod' is a fine patronymic for a Gaelic-speaking woman of your period, but it needs to be combined with a Gaelic given name.

Unfortunately, few Gaelic feminine names appear in the available Scottish records. One that does is <Aifric> \EHF-rick\ or <Afraic> \AHF-rick\, though only in its Latin form, <Affrica>, and such Scots forms as <Effrick>. [1, 2, 4] Curiously enough, this name later came to be associated with the completely unrelated name <Euphemia>, though perhaps not until after our period.

Another Gaelic name that seems to have been used in Scotland in your period is <Aoife>, pronounced roughly \EE-fyeh\, though it was recorded in the Latinized form <Eua> or <Eva>. [1] Yet another appears in Scots guise as <Forveleth> in 1271. [1] The Gaelic is <Forbhlaith>, which was then pronounced roughly \FORV-leth\.)

Far more evidence is available in Ireland. The Gaelic of Scotland and Ireland were the same language in period, and although not all given names were shared between the two countries, in the absence of better evidence we can look to Ireland for guidance. There the name <Aoibhinn> (pronounced roughly \EE-vin\) or <Aoibheann> (\EE-vyahn\) was in use at least to the middle of the 10th century. [2] There are of course many others possibilities; this was merely the one least unlike <Eufemie>. If you're interested, we can offer other suggestions in this vein.

Scottish Gaels did not usually use locative bynames, even in Gaelic. The only medieval Scottish Gaelic locative bynames that we have found have been part of ecclesiastical, territorial, or clan titles, like 'Abbot of Brechin' or 'Earl of Mar', i.e.. just the sort of titles of rank that Society custom forbids. However, if you chose to keep <Eufemie> and be a Scots-speaking noblewoman, a locative byname of the form <de X> (where X is a 13th century Scottish place-name) would be extremely appropriate. Some examples chosen at random are <de Dolays>, <de Lochour>, <de Melgedrum>, and <de Rotheuen> (the <u> is pronounced \v\). [1] Here again we can make further suggestions if you're interested, though some general guidance would be much appreciated.

In the earlier part of your period the main documentary language in Scotland, as in most of Western Europe, was Latin. The Gaelic name <Afraic inghean Leoid> might have been recorded as <Affrica filia

Leodis>. We already mentioned that <Eua> or <Eva> was the normal
Latinization of <Aoife>, and <Aoibhinn> was Latinized <Aibfinnia>. [4] We don't know for sure how <Forbhlaith> was Latinized, but on the basis of other known Latinizations we think that <Forvelata> is a likely possibility. Any of these could of course be substituted for <Affrica>.

By the end of your period the name would quite likely have been written in Scots, e.g., as <Effrick neyn Leod>. We've already mentioned <Forveleth> as an attested Scots form of <Forbhlaith>, and <Aoife> would most likely have been written <Eva> in Scots as well as in Latin. We don't know how <Aoibhinn> would have been written in Scots; <Evine> and <Evina> are reasonable educated guesses, but that's all they are.

A Scots name of the form <Eufemie de X> would probably have been Latinized as <Eufemia de X> or <Euphemia de X>. Here the place-name might have been left alone, or it might also have been Latinized to some degree; the details will vary according to the place-name.

Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter; we hope that you won't hesitate to write again if you have further questions.

For the Academy,

Talan Gwynek


[1] Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986).

[2] O/ Corráin, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). (The slash stands for an acute accent over the preceding vowel.)

[3] Talan Gwynek, "A List of Feminine Personal Names found in Scottish Records" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996).

http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/scottishfem.html

[4] Woulfe, Patrick. Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967 [1923]).

[5] Note, however, that it's very unlikely that the name would have been written in anything but Latin at the beginning of your period.


Correction, Arval, 20 Mar 2003: Aife may not have been used by real people in our period. See the correction to 2028 for details.