ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2002 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2002 ************************************ 4 Apr 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a Scottish feminine name, appropriate between 1000 and 1600, that has something to do with cats, or that sounds like . Here is what we have found. In the 11th-16th centuries, the area we call Scotland today was home to several cultures which spoke different languages. Through the early 14th century, the main languages were: * Norse, spoken in the far north and the western isles. * English, spoken mainly in the southeast. * Gaelic, spoken through much of the country. * Norman French, spoken by Norman settlers and their Scoto-Norman descendents, mostly in the south. By the late 14th century, Norse had fallen out of use, and Scotland had come to be divided into two cultural regions: the Gaelic-speaking Highlands and the Scots-speaking Lowlands. Scots was a language similar to contemporary English which had evolved out of English and Norman French. What sort of name is authentic for your persona will depend on which culture you choose to re-create. We can suggest names in several of these languages that either sound like or have meanings related to cats. Some of our suggestions are given names, others are surnames. Since there are so many possibilities, we're not going into great depth on any of them. Once you decide on one possibility, we'll be happy to help you fill out the rest of your name and to give you the correct pronunciation for your period. Note that names from one language would not, in general, be mixed with names from another language. You wrote that you prefer northern Scotland. If you want to set your persona at the early end of your period, you might consider a Norse name. You might like the Norse feminine names or <{TH}orkatla> [2]. The region called Caithness was known in Old Norse as . That name meant "cat-cape" (but probably derived from a tribal name) [3]. A woman from Katanes could have been identified as "in Caithness" [7]. is about as catty as a name can get! (The slash in this name represents an acute accent on the preceding letter. The symbol {TH} used earlier represents the Norse letter thorn, pronounced here like the in and written like a 'b' and 'p' superimposed so that they share a single loop and a single, long vertical stroke.) If you're not feeling quite that catty, you could use this surname with a different given name; you can find a list of early medieval Norse women's given names on the web: Viking Names found in the Landnamabok http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/landnamabok.html In Gaelic, a person from Caithness can be called a [3]. This type of surname was not common in Gaelic in our period, but it is a possibility. Aifric from Caithness might have been called . Gaelic grammar requires the to become in a woman's surname; this represents a softening of the pronunciation of the letter from \k\ to \kh\. \kh\ is the raspy sound of the in the modern Scottish word or the German . The Gaelic word "cat" offers another possibility. It was occasionally used in early-medieval Irish Gaelic as a masculine given name, "Catt son of Fothad" [5, 6]. You could claim a man named as your father. This possibility is most appropriate at the early end of your period. An 11th or 12th century woman, Aifric daughter of Catt could have been . The word means "daughter"; it's used in women's names in same way that "son" is used in men's names. You'll notice that we've changed to . is the possessive form of , used so that the phrase will mean "Catt's daughter", and the change from to is the same grammatical shift described earlier. If you're interested in a Scottish Gaelic name, you can find lists of given names and information on correct name construction in the articles on this website: http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames We wonder if you're considering using a cat in your heraldic arms. Heraldry was quite common among the Scoto-Normans and later among the Lowland Scots, but was little-used by Gaels. If you want a persona who would have used arms, then Scots is the way to go. It was quite common in our period for the main charge in a family's arms to refer to its surname, e.g. lions for a man named . This practice was called "canting". Note that canting always referred to the surname, not to the given name, so you may want to consider a surname that sounds like . The placename also gave rise to surnames in Scots: Robert of (also or ) was a servant of the early of Sutherland in 1362. Other possibilities include [4]: Ketkert (1202), Kathkerte (1296) Catkone (1296) de Cattone (1296) Cathoch (1463) Catrow (1533) Cattow (1597) The names spelled or also have their first syllables pronounced \KAT\. If you like one of these possibilities, you'll want a Scots given name to combine with this surname. You can find a couple lists of appropriate names on the web: A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/scottishfem/ Early 16th Century Scottish Town Women's Names http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/scottownwomen16.html A name like would be an excellent choice for a 14th or 15th century Lowland woman. You wrote that you aren't interested in the name , but perhaps you might be interested in one of the many variants and pet forms of that name that were used in 16th century Scots in the Lowlands [1]. Katherine 1500, 1505 Katherin 1502 Katering 1520 Katherene 1543 Katring 1520, 1521 Katryne 1509 Katherina 1500, 1501 Chatherena 1521 Katty 1513 Katte 1521 Catte 1531, 1549 Kitte 1520, 1531 Kytte 1543 In these names, is pronounced \K\ and in pronounced \t\. The names in the this list that end in <-e>, like , were pronounced with a final \ee\ sound, i.e. \KAT-ee\. We 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Aelfwyn aet Gyrwum, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 4 Apr 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] The manuscript Aberdeen Council Registers, Volumes 8 - 20 (1501-1551), in the Aberdeen City Archives. [2] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931). [3] Watson, William J., _The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland_ (London: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd., 1926), p.30. [4] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Catnes, Cathcart, Cathkin, Cathro, Catten, Catto. [5] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983), s.v. catt. [6] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). [7] Cleasby, R., G. Vigfusson, & W. Craigie, _An Icelandic-English Dictionary_ (Oxford: At the University Press, 1975). In personal names, is the most common preposition used with place-names containing the element <-nes>, and <-i> is the dative singular case ending.