ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1561 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1561 ************************************ 26 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether and are appropriate names for period Scotland or Ireland. This letter is a brief answer to your question. is a masculine name, so we're assuming you're asking for help constructing a name for a male friend or perhaps for your own male persona. If you want to construct a feminine name, please write us again and we'll suggest some possibilities. is a late period Gaelic masculine name. Before 1200 or so, it was spelled . The slashes in the name represent accents on the preceding letters. The name was pronounced roughly \FAY-lahn\. It was used in the Gaelic-speaking cultures of both Ireland and Scotland from the Middle Ages on [1, 2]. It's a fine choice for a Gaelic man's name. is an English spelling of the Gaelic masculine patronymic [2]. A patronymic is a surname that identifies a person as his father's son or her father's daughter. This name means "son of " and would only have been used in our period only by a man whose father's first name was . The Scottish practice of using surnames to indicate clan membership is a modern development, which did not exist in our period. In the Gaelic cultures of either Scotland or Ireland, Faola/n, son of Leo/d mac Domhnaill would usually have been known as . He might have belonged to a clan, but that fact would not have been indicated in his name. This name is pronounced \FAY-lahn mahk LYOAT\. is another English spelling of a Gaelic patronymic, in this case "son of Alasdair". is a Gaelic adaptation of , used in Scotland by the 15th century and possibly earlier [1, 2]. is another fine Gaelic man's name for the last couple centuries of our period. It would have been pronounced \FAY-lahn mahk AHL-ahs-tare\. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 26 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Fa/ela/n, Alusdar. [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Macfillan, MacLeod, Alexander, MacAlaster.