Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 728

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 728

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/728

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 Saint Gabriel!

You asked for our help choosing name for a Scottish Gaelic woman after 1300, and for information about the names <Esa>, <Cicilia>, <Julian>, <Cael>, <Beccan>, and <Cacht>. Here is what we have found.

You wrote that you had found these six names in Talan Gwynek's article "A List of Feminine Personal Names found in Scottish Records". The first three of the names are listed in that article; the last three are not.

<Esa> is a Norse name, recorded in Orkney in 1330 [1]. The islands north of Scotland were ruled by the Norwegians or the Danes through much of our period. Some Norse names were adopted into Gaelic, but we do not have evidence that <Esa> was one of them.

<Cicilia> was introduced by the Anglo-Normans who settled in Scotland in the 12th century; it is recorded in Fife in 1158 [1]. Some form of <Cicilia> or <Cecilia> probably survived in Scots until your period and could possibly have been adopted in Gaelic, but we have no evidence that it was.

<Julian> is a Scots name, recorded in Berwickshire in 1288. It was probably used through your period and, once again, it might have been adopted into Gaelic but we have no evidence that it was.

You have no doubt seen a pattern here: There is very little definitely known about late-period Scottish Gaelic women's names. We have certain knowledge of only a few; I'll give a list later.

<Cael> and <Beccán> are masculine names, used in medieval Ireland [2]. (The slash represents a sharp accent on the preceding vowel.) Since they are masculine names, they are not appropriate for your persona.

<Cacht> is an early medieval Irish feminine name. It apparently dropped out of use in Irish Gaelic long before your period. It is possible that it survived in Scottish Gaelic, but we think it is unlikely. The root meaning of this name, by the way, is "slave, bondmaid". The meaning of a name was generally not relevent to its normal use, but it is possible that this name is an exception.

Since none of the names you listed is completely appropriate to your persona, here is a list of alternatives. First, a list of all the Scottish Gaelic women's names we've documented from the 14th to 16th century [1, 3, 4, 5]:

 Caitríona or Caitrina \KAHT-ree-nah\  (borrowing of <Katherine>)
 Ealusaid   \EHL-uhs-ahtch\ (borrowing of <Elizabeth> or <Elisot>)

To this list we can add a couple more names that we think were probably used in Scottish Gaelic in the late centuries of our period [1, 3]:

 Eibhlinn               \AVE-leen\      (borrowing of <Avelina>)
 Seónaid               \SHAW-nitch\    (borrowing of <Jonet>)

Once you choose a first name, you'll want to put together a complete name. Women from your period were most often known as their fathers' daughters. For example, if you were named <Raghnailt> and your father were named <Domhnall>, you would be called <Raghnailt inghean Domhnaill>, pronounced \RU-niltch NEE-yen DOHN-all\. The change in spelling of <Domhnall> is required by Gaelic grammar.

I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Effrick neyn Kenneoch and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur


References

[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).

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

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

[4] A photograph of the "1467 MS", a Gaelic genealogical manuscript, which

is shelf-marked 72.1.1 in the Scottish National Library. Colm O'Boyle has kindly helped with our transcriptions from this manuscript.

[5] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_

(Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation).


Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in n, like inghean, the letter D does not lenite.

Correction, 26 Mar 2002, Arval: Removed Ealasaid, a modern spelling we've not yet found in period sources. See Scottish Gaelic Given Names, http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven.