ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 975 http://www.s-gabriel.org/975 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 26 May 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a 14th to 16th century Gaelic feminine name, using or as your given name, with your father's name starting with B or S, and with or as your clan name. Here is what we have found. was a common feminine name in early period Ireland. It was pronounced somewhere between \MEER-ahn\ and \MEER-yahn\. A later-period version of the name is , pronounced the same as . Although we don't have evidence that it was used as late as the 14th century, it is quite likely: It was the name of several saints and survived well past the English settlement in the 12th century [1, 2]. \MOON\ was originally the name of a southern Irish goddess, and a historical is a patron saint of the parish of Tallaght in County Dublin [1]. The name could have been in use in your period, especially in this part of Ireland. In your period, most Irish women would have been known as their father's daughters, using one of two formulas. means "Mughain, the daughter of Breaca/n". The changes in spelling of are grammatical requirements in Gaelic. (The slash represents an accent on the previous letter.) means "Mughain, the daughter of a [male] member of the O'Brian clan". Of course, you could replace or with whatever paternal or ancestral name you want to use. In your period, you might have been known by either type of byname, or even by both together, depending on circumstances. You wouldn't always have used the same surname. The word "daughter" was pronounced \IN-yen\ in Irish Gaelic. The combination "daughter of the clan member" was \IN-yen EE\ in the earlier part of the timespan you specified (14th to 16th century). In the later part, its pronunciation contracted to \NEE\. Here are a few Irish men's names that were relatively common in your period [1]. For each name, I've listed its nominative form (the form used when addressing someone) and the form it would take in a byname, and I've given the pronunciation of both forms. In the pronunciations, \kh\ represents the harsh, rasping sound in Scottish or German . \(y)\ represents a very softly pronounced consonantal , as in . If your father were Then you might be called: named: Baoth \BAY\ inghean Bhaoth \IN-yen VAY\ Beaga/n \BAYG-ahn\ inghean Bheaga/in \IN-yen VAYG-ahn\ Bearach \BYAR-ahkh\ inghean Bhearaigh \IN-yen VYAR-ee\ Bla/mhac \BLAW-vahk\ inghean Bhla/mhaigh \IN-yen VLAY-vahk\ Breaca/n \BRAHK-ahn\ inghean Bhreaca/in \IN-yen VRAHK-ahn\ Bre/anainn \BRAIN-in\ inghean Bhre/anainn \IN-yen VRAIN-in\ Brian \BREE-ahn\ inghean Bhrian \IN-yen VREE-ahn\ Scannla/n \SKAHN-lahn\ inghean Scannla/in \IN-yen SKAHN-lahn\ Se/amus \SHAY-mahs\ inghean She/amuis \IN-yen HAY-mish\ Sea/n \SHAWN\ inghean Shea/in \IN-yen HAHN\ Sealbhach \SHAHL-vahkh\ inghean Shealbhaigh \IN-yen HAHL-vee\ Somhairle \SORE-l(y)eh\ inghean Shomhairle \IN-yen HORE-l(y)eh\ Suibhne \SWEE-n(y)eh\ inghean Suibhne \IN-yen HWEE-n(y)eh\ The Gaelic word "smith" was incorporated into the clan name , which was eventually anglicized as [3]. If you were a member of that clan, you could be called pronounced \MEER-ahn IN-yen ee GHOH-ahn\ or \MEER-ahn NEE GHOH-ahn\. The \GH\ is the voiced version of \KH\, defined previously. is a modern surname, an anglicized form of the Gaelic . The root word means "fox" [3]. would be a fine name for the daughter of an . It would have been pronounced \MEER-ahn IN-yen ee HUN-nee\ (or \HEN-nee\, or \HIN-nee\) in the early part of your period, \MEER-ahn nee HUN-nee\ toward the end. 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 Aryanhwy verch Catmael and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 26 May 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O'Corrain, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [2] O'Brien, M. A., ed., Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). [3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -