ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 994
http://www.s-gabriel.org/994
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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: 
24 Jun 1998


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us whether <Iain an Eilean Sgitheanach> is a proper Gaelic form
meaning "John from the Island of Skye" and would be used by a Scottish
Highlander.

The Scottish Gaelic form of <John> was <Eoin> pronounced \OAN\ or \YOAN\
[1]. <Iain> is not found as a Gaelic form in period, and the pronunciation
<EE-in> is modern [3].

Scottish Gaels generally did not name themselves after places in our
period, except in forming titles.  Rather, men in Gaelic Scotland were
known as their father's sons, e.g. <Eoin mac Domhnaill> "Eoin son of
Domhnall" [2].  If you would like us to assist you in choosing a father's
name, or need help constructing a grammatically correct byname, please
feel free to write to us again.  For additional help, you might use the
articles listed on the Academy website at:

  http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/#scotland

especially "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames" and "A Simple Guide to
Constructing 12th Century Scottish Gaelic Names."

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. 
Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and Charles O'Connor
researched this information. 

In service,
--Walraven van Nijmegen
Academy of S. Gabriel

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

[2] Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, _Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames_
    http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/quick_gaelic_bynames.html
    (WWW: Sharon Krossa, 1997)

[3] Josh Mittleman (Arval Benicoeur), "Concerning the Name Iain, Ian, and
    Eoin" (WWW: The Problem Names Project, Sharon L. Krossa, 1999)
    http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/iain.shtml

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Correction, Arval, Apr 2005: Added note [3].