ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 998 http://www.s-gabriel.org/998 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 11 Jun 1998 Greetings, Here's the information on the name you asked about. You said you wanted a Scottish Gaelic name for a woman living in England in the 16th century, and listed "Joanna," "Elspeth," and "Katharyn" as names you wanted. Although you said you wanted a Scottish Gaelic name, the names you listed are actually Scots (Scots is closely related to English, and was spoken in towns and in Lowland Scotland in your period). Since people from urban and Lowland areas were much more likely to migrate to England than rural Highlanders, it is more likely that your persona would have a Scots name rather than a Scottish Gaelic one. In addition, the names you would like to use are more similar to Scots names than Scottish Gaelic ones. Therefore, even though you said you were looking for a Scottish Gaelic name, we've suggested names in Scots. We didn't find the name "Joanna" in Scots during your period. The closest we came was , which was probably pronounced \JENN-a\. Another possibility is , which we found in a variety of different spellings in your period. (1) * Jonet * Johnnett * Jonete * Jonette and are actually related names, since they both ultimately derive from the male name . We found the name dated to 1548, and also found dated to 1512. (1) We found many spellings of , including (1) * Katheryne * Kathrine * Katrina * Katryne and also (2) * Katherine (the most common) * Catering * Catherine * Katerin * Katering * Katherin * Katring * Katte There are two common kinds of last names for Scots women. The first is the father's name--so that Jeanna, Roger's daughter, would be . The second is the place she's from--so that Jeanna from Aberdeen would be . You could use pretty much any Scots man's name or any Lowlands placename for a last name. Talan Gwynek, Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, Arval Benicoeur, and Rouland Carre contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. In service, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel (1) Talan Gwynek, "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records," part 3, under "Jean," "Joan," "Elizabeth," "Katherine." http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/scottishfem/scottishfemlate.html (2) Krossa, Sharon, "Early 16th Century Scottish Town Women's Names." http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/acr_1501_womens_names.html