ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 928
http://www.s-gabriel.org/928
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* NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports     *
*       contain errors that we haven't yet      *
*       corrected.  Please use it with caution. *
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
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From: "S Friedemann" 
20 Apr 1998

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for help creating an Irish feminine name between 1200 and 1600,
using <Siobhan>, <Eiblin>, or <Ruadhan> as your given name and <ni
Dhomhnaill> as a surname.  Here is the information that we have found.

In your period, the surname would be <inghean ui/ Dhomhnaill> (where the '/'
represents an accent over the previous letter) or <inghean Domhnaill>.  The
first means "daughter of an O Donall," and the second means "daughter of a
man named Domhnall."  Your choice of which to use will depend on what you
want your name to mean.

The names <Siobha/n> and <Eibhli/n> or <Aibhili/n> are fine choices for
most of your period--for all but the very beginning.  The names <Siobha/n>
and <Eibhli/n> were derived from Anglo-Norman names and so did not exist
until some time after the Norman settlement in the late 12th and early 13th
century.  <Ru/adha/n>, however, is a masculine name. [1] The closest
feminine name to this is <Ru/adhnait>.  Therefore a name such as <Eibhli/n
inghean Domhnaill>, "Eibhli/n daughter of Domhnall," or <Siobha/n inghean
Domhnaill>, "Siobha/n daughter of Domhnall," would be authentic names for
your period.

These name elements are pronounced as such:

      <Eibhli/n>     \AVE-leen\
      <Aibhili/n>    \AHV-leen\ or \EHV-leen\
      <Siobha/n>     \SHIV-ahn\
      <inghean>      \IN-yen\
      <ui/>          \ee\
      <Domhnaill>    \DOH-nahl\
      <Ru/adhnait>   \ROO-ah-nitch\

We hope that this letter was useful to you, and that you will not hesitate
to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions.
Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur,
Talan Gwynek, and Walraven van Nijmege.

For the Academy,
Arianwy Prydyddes ferch Cadfael Cairmyrdin

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References:

[1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The
Lilliput Press, 1990)

 
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Pronunciation of <Siobha/n> corrected, 12 Jun 2000, Arval

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