ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 844 http://www.s-gabriel.org/844 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 28 May 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel. You asked for a list of women's names of Scots origin that would be appropriate for someone from the MacGregor lands between 1150 and 1250. You also asked for a list of names appropriate for various relatives for this person. In your period, Scotland encompassed several languages, including Gaelic and Scots, a language similar to English. It also encompassed a variety of cultures, including Scoto-Norman (where you find names with Norman/French influence). Because most Scottish records at that time were written in Latin, there are Latin forms of most Scottish Gaelic names. However, there are many names found in English and Latin that have no Scottish Gaelic equivalent. The information we have about the Clan MacGregor is fuzzy as to the time of it's origins, but we do not believe that the clan was formally organized during your period. Also, at that time the lands that eventually became MacGregor lands were in the Gaelic speaking region of Scotland. While it is possible that Scoto-Norman folk, with non-Gaelic names, settled there at that time, most people from that area would have spoken Gaelic and had Gaelic names. If you are interested in making your character Scoto-Norman, then a non-Gaelic name would be appropriate. You asked for a list of women's names in Scots from that time. We found the following names. They would all be appropriate for a women who was part of a Scoto-Norman family: [1] Name Dates Ada 1200, 1250 Aeschine 1160 Alicia 1250 Anabella 1250 Burunild 1250 Christina 1219 Cicilia 1158 Ede 1160 Eschina 1170 (variant of Aeschine) Florie 1190-1220 Godit 1200 Hextilda 12th century Ysabell 1240 Mariota 1250 Muriel 1174, 1225 Orabilia 1200 Orabilis 1199 Ysenda 1208 You asked particularly about forms of and . While we were unable to find an example of Eleanor in Scotland in your period, we do have two examples from England: in 1199 and in 1207. As this is a Norman name, it's possible that it was used in Scotland, too. The name is derived from the name , and, in the form was not found in the British Isles during your period. However, some forms of are in use there at that time. In Scotland we have the in 1240, and probably also which we found in 1296 as a metronymic in the name . [2] In Scots and Scoto-Norman naming practice, you find a variety of byname types. Probably the most common is the locative byname, usually with the form "de ", where the place could be a place in Scotland, England, or Normandy. Some examples from this period are William de Hameville (1194,a locative of Norman origin), Thomas de Colbainestun (1187-89, a locative of English origin), and Willelmus de Wideslader (1170, a locative of Scottish origin). Another common type of byname is the patronymic byname. In Scots, the byname was often just the father's given name or, occasionally a diminutive or pet form of that name; examples include William Alkok (1281, Alcock is a pet form of Allan) and William Jordanus (around 1228, Jordan appears as a personal name in England and Scotland around the 12th century). When written in Latin, such names would often take this form for a woman, filia , and this form for a man, filius . Because the naming practices are significantly different between Gaelic and the other languages in Scotland, I'd prefer not to send a list of male given names at this time. Just which masculine names are appropriate will depend very much on the culture that you choose. Once you've made that decision, we'll be happy to help you come up with some. 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. Arval d'Espas Nord, Aelfwynn aet Gywrum, Talan Gwynek, and Lindorm Eriksson aided in researching and writing this letter. In Service, Margaret Makafee ---------------------- References [1] Talan Gwynek. A List of Feminine Personal Names Found In Scottish Records. (WWW,J. Mittleman, 1996) [2] Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland. New York Public Library, 1946