|
Greetings,
Here's the information we found on "Keegan," which you're using as a Scottish first name.
"Keegan" is not a historical first name, but it isn't exactly a modern invention either. It's the result of a misinterpretation of an Irish name.
The original source of "Keegan" is a Gaelic patronymic, <mac Aodhagáin> (pronounced roughly \mahk AY-gahn\.
When Irish names were recorded in English, <mac> was often written as <M'>. When writers heard the pronunciation \makh AY-gahn\, they wrote <M'Keagan> (other spellings include <M'Kiegane>, <M'Egaine>, and <M'Hegane>, all from between 1550 and 1650. When patronymics became inherited surnames, some people dropped the Gaelic <M'> from their names, which left <Keagan> in various spellings. Later still, <Keegan> became the standard.
So <Keegan> is a modern spelling of a misinterpreted Irish patronymic.
If you wanted to use an authentic Irish name, you could use <Aodhagán>, the name that <mac Aodhagáin> is based on. It is pronounced roughly \AY-gahn\, and in English or Scots it would probably be spelled <Egan>.
You probably noticed that we called <Aodhagán> an Irish name, rather than a Gaelic name. That's because it was used only in Ireland. Even though the Gaelic spoken in Ireland and Scotland was one language in period, there are many Irish names which weren't used in Scotland. Thus, <Aodhagán> would be a historically accurate Irish name, but not an accurate Scottish name.
Although you didn't ask, we thought you might like some information about <O'Ceardhall>. Actually, it is another name which is found in Ireland but not in Scotland.
Names using <O'> were used in Ireland, but not in Scotland (the only examples found in Scotland can be traced to native Irishmen. <O'> is actually an English form of the Irish <ua>, meaning "son of." Thus, <Aodhagan ua Ceardhall> is a perfectly reasonable Irish name. Its English form would be <Egan O'Carroll>. These two forms are different ways of spelling the pronunciation \AY-gahn o KAHR-oll\
The English and Irish forms wouldn't be combined, since Irish and English use radically different spelling rules. However, you could use either the English or Irish forms of your name depending on the situation you were in; in fact, this was common in period.
So, <Keegan> isn't a period name in any language. <Egan O'Carroll> and <Aodhagán ua Ceardhall> are two forms of a period Irish name, but not a period Scottish name.
Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Livia Montgomery, and Elsbeth Anne Roth contribued 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