ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 875 http://www.s-gabriel.org/875 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 11 Apr 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us about the Irish feminine name or , and for information about constructing an Irish name properly. The correct form for your name will partly depend on the time when the name was used. Early Gaelic spellings differ from later ones, and the approximate cut-off date in the midst of this change is 1200, though it was certainly not an overnight shift. We will make both "early" and "later" suggestions in this letter, but you will need to decide which is appropriate for your own persona. is given by several sources [1,2,3] as an anglicized form of the masculine given name . The closest Irish feminine name is , or earlier , pronounced \ROO-ah-nitch\ [4]. Note: the slash (/) represents an accent over the preceding letter. The root word of means "red", but given names don't really have meaning. The "meaning" of was probably understood throughout our period, since the byname was also in common use. However, compare this to or in modern usage -- people know the meanings if they stop and think about them, but usually don't consider them. was "[o]ne of the most popular names in early Ireland". is the Common Classical Gaelic spelling of earlier , and does not seem to be a very common name [4]. Either could be used for the name of your father or of a clan ancestor. The name element is modern. In period Irish, the equivalent would be or , depending on whether you are in early or late period. As an example: is 'Ruadhnait, the daughter of someone of the O Bran sept'. That is, her father is an O Bran. If you would rather be 'Ruadhnait, daughter of Bran', then you should use . Functionally is the equivalent of , whilst corresponds to . You will also notice that the spelling of the father/ancestor name changes when placed into the name construction; this is a feature of Gaelic grammar. To summarize, if you would like an early persona (before about 1200), you could use any of the following: \ROO-ah-nitch EEN-yen VRAN\ \ROO-ah-nitch EEN-yen ee VRAN\ \ROO-ah-nitch EEN-yen VAR-dahn\ \ROO-ah-nitch EEN-yen ee VAR-dahn\ For a later persona, the following would be appropriate: \ROO-ah-nitch IN-yen VRAN\ \ROO-ah-nitch IN-yen ee VRAN\ \ROO-ah-nitch IN-yen VAR-dahn\ \ROO-ah-nitch IN-yen ee VAR-dahn\ For more on the grammar of Gaelic names, you may wish to read the article "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames": http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/quick_gaelic_bynames.html and also the other articles on Gaelic and Irish naming practices at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/celtic.html We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Arval Benicouer, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, Elisabeth de Rossignol, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] Leslie Dunkling & William Gosling, _The New American Dictionary of First Names_ (New York, Signet Books, 1983) [2] George F. Black, _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986) [3] Edward MacLysaght, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985) [4] Donnchadh O/Corr/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990)