ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1698 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1698 ************************************ 9 Jun 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a late-13th or early-14th century Irish man's name. You originally asked about , with the given name pronounced \SHADE\. You later noted that you'd be interested in the Irish precursor of the name . Here is what we have found. We found no medieval Irish name that could have been pronounced \SHADE\. The modern surname derives from a Gaelic given name that was spelled in the early Middle Ages and in your period. The slash represents an accent on the previous letter. This was a rare, early-medieval Irish name, and we have no evidence that it was used in your period [1, 2]. This name was pronounced \SHAYGH-dh@\ in the early Middle Ages, \SHAY-y@\ later in period. \@\ represents a schwa, the last sound in . \GH\ represents the voiced version of the raspy sound in the Scottish word or German , and \dh\ represents the sound of the in . Another name that has a similar sound is or , pronounced \SHAY-n@\. It is another name used in early medieval Ireland, but not found in later records [1, 3]. Either of these names would be a fine choice for an earlier-period name, perhaps as late as the 11th or 12th century, but we can't recommend either one as good re-creation of the 13th or 14th century. If you'd like to consider other names, you can find several lists on our medieval names website, http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/. In medieval Ireland, a man was usually known as his father's son. Se/tnae son of Cormac would have been called , which simply means "Se/tnae son of Cormac". Some men were also known by occupational bynames, so "Se/tnae the Bard" is a plausible early medieval name [3]. Indeed, the same man might have been known by both these names in different circumstances. is pronounced pretty much like the modern word . 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 Talan Gwynek, Alan Fairfax, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Caelin on Andrede. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 9 Jun 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Se/gdae, Se/tna. [2] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.n. O Shea. [3] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976).