ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 938 http://www.s-gabriel.org/938 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 4 May 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the name , which you want to use as a 6th century Irish feminine name. You also asked for a surname which would mean "fatherless". Here is what we have found. , pronounced \AHKH-na\, is the modern spelling of the name of a female character in the Finn cycle of Irish legend. (The \KH\ represents the harsh, rasping sound in Scottish or German .) In Old Irish versions of these stories, the name appears as and [1]. We do not know of any other examples of this name; in particular, we have no evidence that it was used for real people. Some names used in literature were real names; others were not. For example, the Irish avoided naming their children for gods and goddesses and, after the coming of Christianity, for saints. is constructed from elements found in other given names, though, so it is not impossible that it might have been used by real people in your period. However, we do recommend that you use a name that is known to have been used in period. There is a similar- sounding name, , pronounced \AHKH-rahdh\ (\dh\ is the in ), which is recorded in use in the 10th century [1]. In your period, an Irish woman would most often have been known as her father's daughter. The word "daughter" was used to combine the woman's name with her father's, like "Echrad daughter of A/eda/n". (The slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.) "Ni/" is not a period Gaelic word. It is a contraction of that first appeared in the 17th century. That phrase, , means "daughter of the [male] descendent", and was used as the feminine equivalent of . That is to say, the daughter of a man surnamed was herself called . However, this kind of personal name did not come into use until the 10th century, so it would not be appropriate for your persona [2]. We cannot find any Irish name that means "fatherless". Because Irish culture put a strong emphasis on family connections, we think it is extremely unlikely that anyone in period Ireland would have deliberately described herself as having no family. If you are trying to convey either that you are an orphan or illegitimate, perhaps one of the Academy can suggest something that carries one of these meanings; let us know if you'd like us to try to find something. If you simply want a name that doesn't mention a specific father or clan connection, you could use a descriptive nickname; you can find a list of some appropriate bynames in an article on the web: Early Irish Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's "Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae" http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html is not a Gaelic word. There is a Gaelic phrase which means "without a name", but it was not used in personal names [2]. Gaelic descriptive nicknames were not so abstract, as you will see from the examples in the article mentioned above. 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 Tangwistel filia Morgant, Talanus Albus, Alvina Giruumi, Affrica filia Cenneochi, and Carolus Connoveri. For the Academy, Arvaldus Myrkfaelensis 21 April 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [2] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -