ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1215 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1215 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 15 Oct 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You inquired of us about the name for a 14th or 15th century Irish woman. You are correct that the name , where the slash represents an accent over the 'U', is an Irish feminine name. In fact it was a very popular name in the late medieval period [1], and so would be an excellent choice for an Irish name. doesn't appear to be a proper Irish surname. is the English form of the Irish , which signifies "male descendant of. . ." As is a place name and not a given name, a surname meaning "male descendant of Romney" would make no sense. The surname comes from a place in Kent, England. Someone with the surname early in your period would probably have been born or living in Romney. It is unlikely that a woman from Kent would be given an Irish name, and also unlikely that an Irish woman would be from Kent. As such, we recommend against the combination of the Irish name and the Kentish surname . If you prefer to keep the name , we recommend the spelling for your period [2]. You would need to use an English given name, and there are lists of English women's names available on-line at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/english.html If you prefer to be Irish and use the name , then the most likely way to construct the rest of your name is to base it on your father's name. Women in Ireland were known as their father's daughters, so for instance, if your father's name were , then you would be called , meaning "U/na, daughter of Cormac". (The name change from becomes is a result of Gaelic grammar.) This is pronounced \OON-a IN-yen KHOR-mak\, where the \kh\ is pronounced as the in Scottish "loch" or German "bach". You may find the following articles helpful for constructing an Irish name: "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames" http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/quick_gaelic_bynames.html "100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/irish100/ The names in the second article are from a period earlier than yours, and the spellings would need to be adjusted to be authentic. Please write again if you would like to know the correct 14th and 15th century spellings of a few names. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Talan Gwynek and Arval Benicoeur assisted with this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen & Aryanhwy merch Catmael Academy of S. Gabriel, October 15, 1998 [1] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) [2] P.H. Reaney & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)