ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1307
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1307
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* NOTE: This is one of the Academy's earliest *
* reports. We are not confident that *
* these early reports are accurate. *
* Please use it with caution. *
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30 Nov 1998
From: Jodi McMaster
Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!
You asked whether the name <Faoiltigerna ni Mairi> could be documented
for a woman living around 650 AD whose father was an Irish bard and
whose mother was a Dalriadan Scot.
First, we'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try
to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical
cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be
used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that it not our
goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If
your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able
to help you.
During the early period of Irish Dalriada settlement in Scotland, the
two groups functioned as a single culture, sharing the same language
(Early Gaelic, also known as Old Irish) and naming practices. During
the time in which you are interested, the cultural distinction between
"Irish" and "Dalriada Scot" is pretty much the distinction between
native Californians and immigrants to California from Ohio. The most
likely people to move to Scottish Dalriada were people from Irish
Dalriada. Therefore, the child of a union between someone from Irish
Dalriada and someone Scottish Dalriada would be named no differently
than if the parents were both from Irish Dalriada or Scottish Dalriada.
The given name you are interested in is problematic.
The name <Faoiltighearn> is a masculine name, a late period spelling of
the Old Irish name <Fai/ltigern> (where the "/" indicates an accent over
the preceding vowel), a male saint. [1]
We've only found one instance of <Fai/ltigerna>, and we're not sure
that it is a feminine name. The <-a> ending is not a feminine suffix in
Gaelic as in English or Latin. A Gaelic name ending in <-a> could be
masculine or feminine. <Fai/ltigerna> appears to be a variant of the
masculine name <Fai/ltigern> that was misinterpreted by an English or
Latin speaker. Indeed, our best source on Irish names says that the St.
Fai/ltigern whose feast day is March 17 was a man. [1]
Further evidence can be found by looking at the underlying root:
<tigern> and <tigerna> are synonymous, both masculine words meaning
"lord, chief" [4]. On the other hand, we found one other name,
<Co/eltigern>, which is feminine [3]; so it is possible that
<Fa/iltigern> might also have been used as a woman's name. However, the
evidence for that use isn't very strong and we recommend that you choose
a different name.
We have seen no evidence of the use of matronymics during this early
period. It is almost unheard of in Gaelic for a person to derive a
byname from his or her mother's name. We have only two examples of
this, both cases involving royalty in unusual circumstances.
Patronymics, however, were commonly used.
The word <ni/> (with an accent) is a modern Irish word and was not used
in Gaelic in our period. It originated shortly after 1600 as a
contraction of the late-period Irish phrase <inghean ui/>, which
literally means "daughter of O/", and was used as the feminine form of
<O/> in family names. That's also how <ni/> is used in modern Irish: for
feminine forms of family names. If you simply want to say "daughter
of," you should use <ingen> (pronounced \EEN-yen\), the early-period
spelling of "daughter." The spelling of the father's name changes
when it is used after <ingen> to show possession, something like the
difference between <John> and <John's>.
Family names like <O/ Conchobhair> (in English, <O'Connor>) began to be
used in Ireland in the 10th century, well after your period. They were
not a normal part of Scottish naming practices.
The name <Mairi> is a modern Irish spelling of <Maire>, the Gaelic form
of <Mary>. Medieval Gaels did not give this name to their children;
they considered it to be too holy for normal use [1]. In fact, the name
<Mary> was not commonly used by seventh century Christians in Western
Europe; the popular veneration of Mary arose later in the Middle Ages
[5]. A similar-sounding feminine Gaelic name that was used during the
period is <Mo/r>, pronounced like the word "more."
If you'd like to consider some other names, we'll be happy to help. If
you'd like to consider names beginning with "F" (or something like
that), we can send you a list of possibilities. You can also find a
list of early-medieval Gaelic women's names on the web:
Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum
Hiberniae'
http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html
The source for this article is 12th century and Irish, but we believe
that most of these names could also have been used in 7th century
Dalriada. The spellings aren't appropriate for your period, though, so
if you choose a few names, we'll be happy to give you appropriate
spellings and pronunciations.
You can also find a list of popular early-medieval Gaelic men's names
on the web that you can use to choose your father's name:
100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100
These names also need some massaging to bring them into your period;
let us know which one's interest you, and we'll send you the details.
We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if any part
of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Arval Benicoeur,
Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Effrick neyn Kenneoch,
Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Margaret Makafee contributed comments and/or
research for this letter.
For the Academy,
AElfwyn aet Gyrwum
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References:
[1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin:
The Lilliput Press, 1990).
[2] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and
Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation).
[3] O/ Riain, Pa/draig, ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_
(Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985).
{4} Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based
mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy,
1983).
[5] Christianity: THE CHURCH AND ITS HISTORY: Christian doctrine: GOD
THE SON: The doctrine of the Virgin Mary and holy Wisdom." and "Latin
Literature: Medieval Latin literature: THE 9TH TO THE 11TH CENTURY"
Britannica Online. [Accessed 30 October 1998]
http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5003/65/22.html
http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5001/28/53.html
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Annotation by Aryanhwy, 10 July 2007: Further research supercedes
the paragraph on <Mairi> in this report. We have since found examples
of <Ma/ire> used by Gaelic women in late-period Ireland; our first
example is from the end of the 14th century. See Report #2859
(http://www.s-gabriel.org/2859) for more details.
Additionally, in the 15th and 16th centuries we find the spelling
<Mairi>, but only in references to women of Anglo-Norman descent.
We have not found any examples of <Mairi> used by Gaelic women. [*]
[*] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW:
Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2006).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/