Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland 14th Century)

Name Patterns

by Heather Rose Jones
(Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, contact@heatherrosejones.com)

© 1999 by Heather Rose Jones; all rights reserved.

Name Patterns

Let me begin with a simple listing of the frequency of the various name patterns, grouped by gender and "language" (as defined above). The following codes are used in the name patterns. (Note: Some of these are different from my usual codes.) Items in italics refer to the actual word present, others refer to classes of elements. If an element appears to be a hereditary English surname, I have not classified it further by type. (Classification as a "surname" usually requires that the element appear with no prepositions or articles, and not be an unmodified given name. The only exception made was for "le Botiller" which is the hereditary surname of the ruling family, and clearly not an occupational byname.)

Codes

g	given name	b	descriptive byname
f	filius/filia	v	vidua
u	uxor	m	mac
o	ó, uí	d	de
l	placename	c	occupation
s	English surname	e	eius
a	alias	t	title
i	inghean	z	fitz

Men
English
Patterns with an Explicit Relationship Word
Latin Relationship Words
        gfg     2

Other Patterns
No Non-Given-name Elements
        g       1
        gg      3
        gdg     1
Surname Present
        gs      2
        gstl    1
Locative Only
        gl      1

Irish
Patterns with an Explicit Relationship Word
Latin Relationship Words (Son)
        gfg     1
        gfgmg   5 (note: also Irish rel. word)
        gfcog   1 (note: also Irish rel. word)
        gfgdl   1
Irish Relationship Words
Mac
        gmg     38
        gmgs    2
        gmgc    1
        -mgs    1 (note: no given name present)
        -mgmg   1 (note: no given name present)
        g[m]g   1 (byname has trace of "mac")
O
        gog     46
        -og     2 (note: no given name present)

Other Patterns
No Non-Given-name Elements
        g       7
        gg      12
Descriptive Byname (or Unidentified Byname)
        gb      39
        gbb     1
Occupational Byname
        gc      2
Locative
        gdl     8
        gl      4
Complex Combinations
        gbg     1
        gbs     1
        gsdl    1

Welsh
Patterns with an Explicit Relationship Word
Latin Relationship Words (Son)
        gfg     13
        gfgdl   1
        gfgfgdl 1
Other Relationship Words
        gzg     3

Other Patterns
No Non-Given-name Elements
        gg      7
Occupational Byname
        gc      1
Locative Byname
        gdl     1

Women
English
Patterns with an Explicit Relationship Word
Latin Relationship Words
Daughter/Heir
        gfg     5
        gfgc    3
        ghgdl   2
Wife
        gue     4
        gugfg   4
        gugdl   1
        gsugl   1
Widow
        gv      4
        gvgb    1
        gvgs    1
Other Patterns
No Non-Given-name Elements
        g       1
        gg      2
Locative Byname
        gdl     6
Surname
        gs      10
Irish-influenced English Surname
        gs      2

Irish
Patterns with an Explicit Relationship Word
Latin Relationship Words
Widow
        gv      4
Irish Relationship Words
Inghean
        giog    1
Mac
        gmg     1
O
        gogv    1

Other Patterns
Descriptive (or Unidentified) Byname
        gb      1

The simple listing of patterns hides part of the story, however, and pattern-codes don't give a good feel for what the names look like. Let's examine some of the trends and non-obvious patterns in detail, and show what the names realy look like, starting with the women.

Women's names containing Irish elements fall into three groups: an Irish given name with the Latin designation vidua (widow);

Morina vidua

Slany vidua

Raynagh vidua

Bridok vidua

an English given name followed by a single Irish byname;

Evota Oge

or an Irish or English given name followed by an Irish patronym. One of the last is "complex" in that it has the designation vidua after the patronym.

Slany Enynimolan (i.e., inghean uí Mhaoláin)

Elyn McGalman

Emin O Karwill vidua

It may be relevant in the interpretation of locatives that there are no examples of women bearing Irish locatives.

Note that no woman is classed as having an Irish-context name on the basis of a Latin relationship term followed by an Irish name (whether father or husband).

There are no women's name containing Welsh elements.

Women's names containing neither Irish nor Welsh elements cover more ground. Somewhat more than half contain some relational byname, either filia/heredia (10), uxor (10), or vidua (6). Half of these are "simple" in that they include no more than the relevant relation's given name (if that much -- vidua most often stands alone, and uxor often is followed only by eius, his, in reference to a previously mentioned husband). The element following this Latin relationshp term is always given a Latin inflection.

Agatha filia Mauricii

Sibilla filia Radulfi

Johanna uxor eius

When the relationship term is complex, it is roughly equally divided between Latin occupational bynames,

Alicia filia Johannis Tinctoris (painter)

Margareta filia Laurencii molendinarii (miller)

Latin patronyms,

Basilla uxor Philippi fil. Roberti

Mabilla uxor Rogeri fil. Milonis

and surnames or locatives that are probably functioning as hereditary surnames (since they seem to be attached to the prominent English families of the area).

Roysia heredia Roberti de Valle

Alicia uxor Walteri de la Hay

Matilda vidua Nicholao Bukeley

In one lone example, the relational term appears to have a descriptive byname,

Emma vidua Willelmo Longo

and in another the woman has both her own surname and a byname indicating her husband (who bears a different surname).

Symonis Croker uxor E. Blaunchevile

The "English" names without explicit relational elements split mainly between surnames

Alicia Argentyme

Isabella Betriche

Isabella Duse

Matilda Mag

Roysia Travers

Isabella Wyte

Sibilla Casse

Alicia Hesam

and locatives, many of which may actually be family surnames.

Beatricia de Blaunchevill

Sussanna del Grange

Sarra de Hereford

Lucia de Roily

Sibilla de Salle

Johanna de Stafford

Also represented is what may be either unmarked relational bynames, or surnames.

Mabilla Gerard

Sarra Godfrey

Two surnames balance on the edge between English and Irish -- they are of English linguistic origin, but give evidence of having been modified to the Irish sound-system. This strongly suggests that they are hereditary family surnames. It may suggest that the family is now Irish-speaking, although the same change could happen without that circumstance.

Margareta ffanyn

Isabella Braynok

To summarize some of the interesting points, women's name containing Irish elements do not use Latin relational elements except for vidua (but these without specifying the object of the relation). The only non-relational bynames appearing in the "Irish" women's names appear to be descriptive bynames. There are no cases where a woman has an Irish given name and an English surname, or a given name of any type with an Irish locative. The "English" women's names are slightly skewed toward using Latin relational bynames, with the others overwhelmingly having what are most likely hereditary family surnames.

The contrast in patterns between men and women may, as noted above, have to do with differences between men and women in the adoption of English given names. However, if this were the only factor, we would expect to find more examples where an English- origin feminine given name is associated with an Irish-origin relational byname (given the relative numbers of Irish versus English masculine given names in the record). This suggests a different explanation: that, perhaps, ethnically Irish women were significantly less likely to be mentioned in this sort of record than ethnically English women in the same community. This theory is more satisfactory from one point of view, however it introduces a different oddity. The most generous count for non- Irish-context names (including names with Welsh, but no Irish, elements, and including names where the only Irish element is a locative byname) comes to 50 (versus 161 Irish-context) for men, and 47 (versus 8 Irish-context) for women. This interpretation would suggest that, among the non-Irish community, women appear in the records in equal numbers with men -- a rather startling departure from other legal records of this period that I have studied.

Men

Welsh

It is convenient to dispense with the names containing Welsh elements first. The first thing to observe is that these names lean overwhelmingly toward patronyms -- suggesting that men bearing Welsh names are most likely ethnically Welsh and retain that culture's preference for patronymic identifications. Slightly more than half use Latin filius. Most are simple, including only the father's given name, but two include a locative (Irish) or additional generation. When the father's name is Welsh, the father's name is twice as likely not to use Latin inflections as to use them, whereas when the father's name is not Welsh, it always takes Latin inflectins.

Griffinus fil. Ade

Oliver[um] fil. Eynon

Thomas fil. Rys

Griffinus fil. Benedicti

Griffinus fil. Mathei

Elyider[i] fil. Meileri

Thomas fil. Rysy

Urien fil. Stephani

Elyder[i] fil. Meileri de Midia

Theobaldus fil. Johannis fil. Meileri de Rupe

Three names use Norman French fitz. (This may be an example of a particular family preference, as two are the same person and the third shares a name element.) Interestingly, these are the only names using fitz.

Robertus fitz Ytholl

Ythell fitzEynon

The overwhelming majority of the remaining names consist of two given names -- quite possibly unmarked patronyms.

Ade Cradok

Petrus Griffyn

Thomas Howell

Willelmus Rys

Philippus Rys

In addition, we have an English given name with a Welsh locative,

Jacobus de Penris

and a Latin ethnic byname meaning "Welsh". (The use of Latin, combined with the Welsh given name, indicates fairly clearly that this is a personal nickname, rather than a hereditary surname. Compare with "Walsh" in the Irish section below.)

Ithel Walensis

English

There are relatively few men's names that contain neither Irish nor Welsh elements. Of these, about two-thirds contain only given names -- with or without Latin filius. When the Latin relational term is present, the following name takes a Latin inflection. When filius is not present, the byname may be a hereditary family surname, rather than a true patronym.

Johannes fil. Hugonis

Ricardus fil. Milonis

Johannes Lauerance

Radulfus Patrik

There appears to be one case where Latin de has been used with a given name (most likely a hereditary surname).

Johannes de Rembold

Ricardus Rembold

The remainder of the cases involve surnames. The only "complex" name adds a territorial title.

David Croker

Theobaldus le Botiller(not an occupational name, the Butlers were the ruling family of Ormond)

Jacobus le Botiller Comitus Ormonie (i.e., Count of Ormond)

Irish

Nearly half of the men's names containing Irish elements include an explicit relational element, whether Latin filius, Irish mac or Irish ó. It should be noted that while, by my classification system, any name containing mac or ó would automatically be considered to "contain Irish elements", there is only a small group of names in which this is the only Irish element present (and these will be discussed below).

Relatively few names use Latin filius and the majority of these have a complex patronym, containing both the father's given name and his mac patronym. Another odd case identifies the father with a Latin occupation, and is followed by an ó patronym. Yet another example is followed by a locative, but this is discussed below in the section on locatives. When the father's name is Irish, it does not take Latin inflections, otherwise it does.

Philippus fil. Doncoun

Dermot fil. Milonis McTalwy

Rogerus fil. Milonis McNaspuk

Andreas fil. Willelmi McShane

Johannes fil. capellani O Brin

Mac and ó patronyms appear in approximately equal numbers. Interestingly, no names include both (although note that filius does appear in combination with each, but not both). A few mac patronyms include a following element -- the same ones where mac is the only Irish element. Names with ó patronyms contain no following element. (In only the case given above, does a name with an ó patronym contain any other element.) With one exception, the given names following mac are all Irish (the exception being Welsh). Two-thirds of the given names followed by mac patronyms are also Irish. All the given names following ó patronyms are Irish, and again two-thirds of the given names preceding them are Irish. The following are only a few typical examples.

Dovenold McBalwy

Molice McBroyg

Oalnerauth McCorkeran

Gilcrist McGylmoy

ffoulin McKengan

Kynnath McKeni

Henricus McConauthey

Johannes McGilmoy

Thomas McKelan

Conowre Obryn

ffyn O Donely

Gilmartyn O Duffgan

Corkeran Ohurholthy

Dovenold O Tagan

ffolan Otothel

Johannes O Donan

Adam O Doude

Walterus Otothel

In one case, a Welsh given name appears with an ó patronym,

Meiler[o] Otothel

and in one other case, mac is followed by a Welsh name.

Carrek McGriffyn

I've made several references to an unusual set of names -- the only ones were mac is the only Irish element present, and where it is followed by an English name. These names are as follows.

Ricardus McHenry Vale

McRobion Bottiller (no given name present)

The Butlers, as previously noted, are the ruling family of Ormonde at this time. The Vale family shows up numerous times in the records and presumably were another important family in the region. The general pattern we seem to be seeing here is that of powerful Anglo-Irish families adopting mac patronyms while retaining family surnames. Another name with a similar pattern, but an Irish name in the patronym, appears. I have no other references to "Walsh" as a prominent family in the area.

Ricardus McGeiffein Walsh

Names containing only two given names seem likely to be unmarked patronyms. In contrast to the names with mac and ó patronyms, only one-fifth of the given names in this group are Irish, while all of the possible patronyms are Irish -- that is, there are no "gg" pattern names where the first is Gaelic and the second not. The correlation between adopting English given names and dropping the mac from patronyms is not particularly surprising.

Willelmus Brenan

Philippus Doneheved

Petrus ffynover

Douenoldus Mouenath

A smaller group of entries consist only of an Irish given name -- although at least a couple of these may be a given name and byname run together.

Molmory

Lechlen

Gyllfynnan

Gilumtharog

Conghirketh

ffleadrekin

ffynthcor

Of the remaining names without patronyms, the vast majority are simple, with only a single byname of some type. The largest group has a descriptive byname. While all the descriptive bynames are Irish, a startlingly small number of the associated given names are Irish (about 1/20).

Thomas Beche

Henricus Beg

Willelmus Boy

Jacobus Done

Radulfus Ker

Johannes Og

Ricardus Roth

Dermot Moor

There is also one example with two descriptive bynames.

Thomas Rowe Beg

Two names have Latin occupational bynames. (There are no Irish occupational bynames anywhere in the document.) The use of Latin suggests that these are the actual occupations of the men.

Gillemyall medico

Sytrok summonitore

The names with Irish locative bynames, with a single possible exception, have English given names. (The exception being Gilko, which I have not identified to my satisfaction. It may be an Irish Giolla-X name, but it might also be an English diminutive of Giles.) There are several cases where the same person appears with and without de or with and without a surname preceding the locative. The places identified include settlements in the territory of Ormond (Kilkasshe, Balymore) and territorial names from neighboring regions (Media/Methe). For various reasons, it seems quite likely that these locative bynames do not refer simply to place of origin, but have territorial implication.

Johannes de Balligaueran

Gilko de Balymaclothyr

Robertus de Doundonevold

    Robertus Doundonevold

Willelmus de Kilkasshe

    Willelmus Vale de Kilkasshe

Willelmus de Killmor

    Willelmus Kilmor

Ricardus de Midia

Johannes de Midia

Thomas Methe

Andreas de Rathgarvan

Johannes fil. Johannes de Balymore

As with the more complex mac names, the more complex non- patronymic names seem to be associated with important families. (In addition to the aforementioned Vale family, evidence in the records suggests that Johannes fynne Neele is an important member of the O'Neills.)

Johannes ffynne Neele

Ricardus Oge Vale

Willelmus Vale de Kilkasshe

One overall pattern among the men's names seems to be for any Anglicization of name pattern to be accompanied by a move away from Gaelic given names. That is, you almost never find Gaelic given names combined with English surnames, English-style (unmarked) patronyms, or locatives.

Introduction
Given Names
Name Patterns
Glossary of Elements in Bynames
Bibliography

Layout, editting, and publishing Arval Benicoeur.

The simple listing of patterns hides part of the story, however, and pattern-codes don't give a good feel for what the names look like. Let's examine some of the trends and non-obvious patterns in detail, and show what the names realy look like, starting with the women.

Women's names containing Irish elements fall into three groups: an Irish given name with the Latin designation vidua (widow);
	Morina vidua
	Slany vidua
	Raynagh vidua
	Bridok vidua
an English given name followed by a single Irish byname;
	Evota Oge
or an Irish or English given name followed by an Irish patronym. One of the last is "complex" in that it has the designation vidua after the patronym.
	Slany Enynimolan (i.e., inghean uí Mhaoláin)
	Elyn McGalman
	Emin O Karwill vidua
It may be relevant in the interpretation of locatives that there are no examples of women bearing Irish locatives.

Note that no woman is classed as having an Irish-context name on the basis of a Latin relationship term followed by an Irish name (whether father or husband).

There are no women's name containing Welsh elements.

Women's names containing neither Irish nor Welsh elements cover more ground. Somewhat more than half contain some relational byname, either filia/heredia (10), uxor (10), or vidua (6). Half of these are "simple" in that they include no more than the relevant relation's given name (if that much -- vidua most often stands alone, and uxor often is followed only by eius, his, in reference to a previously mentioned husband). The element following this Latin relationshp term is always given a Latin inflection.
	Agatha filia Mauricii
	Sibilla filia Radulfi
	Johanna uxor eius
When the relationship term is complex, it is roughly equally divided between Latin occupational bynames,
	Alicia filia Johannis Tinctoris (painter)
	Margareta filia Laurencii molendinarii (miller)
Latin patronyms,
	Basilla uxor Philippi fil. Roberti
	Mabilla uxor Rogeri fil. Milonis
and surnames or locatives that are probably functioning as hereditary surnames (since they seem to be attached to the prominent English families of the area).
	Roysia heredia Roberti de Valle
	Alicia uxor Walteri de la Hay
	Matilda vidua Nicholao Bukeley
In one lone example, the relational term appears to have a descriptive byname,
	Emma vidua Willelmo Longo
and in another the woman has both her own surname and a byname indicating her husband (who bears a different surname).
	Symonis Croker uxor E. Blaunchevile

The "English" names without explicit relational elements split mainly between surnames
	Alicia Argentyme
	Isabella Betriche
	Isabella Duse
	Matilda Mag
	Roysia Travers
	Isabella Wyte
	Sibilla Casse
	Alicia Hesam
and locatives, many of which may actually be family surnames.
	Beatricia de Blaunchevill
	Sussanna del Grange
	Sarra de Hereford
	Lucia de Roily
	Sibilla de Salle
	Johanna de Stafford
Also represented is what may be either unmarked relational bynames, or surnames.
	Mabilla Gerard
	Sarra Godfrey

Two surnames balance on the edge between English and Irish -- they are of English linguistic origin, but give evidence of having been modified to the Irish sound-system. This strongly suggests that they are hereditary family surnames. It may suggest that the family is now Irish-speaking, although the same change could happen without that circumstance.
	Margareta ffanyn
	Isabella Braynok

To summarize some of the interesting points, women's name containing Irish elements do not use Latin relational elements except for vidua (but these without specifying the object of the relation). The only non-relational bynames appearing in the "Irish" women's names appear to be descriptive bynames. There are no cases where a woman has an Irish given name and an English surname, or a given name of any type with an Irish locative. The "English" women's names are slightly skewed toward using Latin relational bynames, with the others overwhelmingly having what are most likely hereditary family surnames.

The contrast in patterns between men and women may, as noted above, have to do with differences between men and women in the adoption of English given names. However, if this were the only factor, we would expect to find more examples where an English- origin feminine given name is associated with an Irish-origin relational byname (given the relative numbers of Irish versus English masculine given names in the record). This suggests a different explanation: that, perhaps, ethnically Irish women were significantly less likely to be mentioned in this sort of record than ethnically English women in the same community. This theory is more satisfactory from one point of view, however it introduces a different oddity. The most generous count for non- Irish-context names (including names with Welsh, but no Irish, elements, and including names where the only Irish element is a locative byname) comes to 50 (versus 161 Irish-context) for men, and 47 (versus 8 Irish-context) for women. This interpretation would suggest that, among the non-Irish community, women appear in the records in equal numbers with men -- a rather startling departure from other legal records of this period that I have studied.

Men
Welsh
It is convenient to dispense with the names containing Welsh elements first. The first thing to observe is that these names lean overwhelmingly toward patronyms -- suggesting that men bearing Welsh names are most likely ethnically Welsh and retain that culture's preference for patronymic identifications. Slightly more than half use Latin filius. Most are simple, including only the father's given name, but two include a locative (Irish) or additional generation. When the father's name is Welsh, the father's name is twice as likely not to use Latin inflections as to use them, whereas when the father's name is not Welsh, it always takes Latin inflectins.
	Griffinus fil. Ade
	Oliver[um] fil. Eynon
	Thomas fil. Rys
	Griffinus fil. Benedicti
	Griffinus fil. Mathei
	Elyider[i] fil. Meileri
	Thomas fil. Rysy
	Urien fil. Stephani
	Elyder[i] fil. Meileri de Midia
	Theobaldus fil. Johannis fil. Meileri de Rupe
Three names use Norman French fitz. (This may be an example of a particular family preference, as two are the same person and the third shares a name element.) Interestingly, these are the only names using fitz.
	Robertus fitz Ytholl
	Ythell fitzEynon
The overwhelming majority of the remaining names consist of two given names -- quite possibly unmarked patronyms.
	Ade Cradok
	Petrus Griffyn
	Thomas Howell
	Willelmus Rys
	Philippus Rys
In addition, we have an English given name with a Welsh locative,
	Jacobus de Penris
and a Latin ethnic byname meaning "Welsh". (The use of Latin, combined with the Welsh given name, indicates fairly clearly that this is a personal nickname, rather than a hereditary surname. Compare with "Walsh" in the Irish section below.)
	Ithel Walensis

English
There are relatively few men's names that contain neither Irish nor Welsh elements. Of these, about two-thirds contain only given names -- with or without Latin filius. When the Latin relational term is present, the following name takes a Latin inflection. When filius is not present, the byname may be a hereditary family surname, rather than a true patronym.
	Johannes fil. Hugonis
	Ricardus fil. Milonis
	Johannes Lauerance
	Radulfus Patrik
There appears to be one case where Latin de has been used with a given name (most likely a hereditary surname).
	Johannes de Rembold
	Ricardus Rembold
The remainder of the cases involve surnames. The only "complex" name adds a territorial title.
	David Croker
	Theobaldus le Botiller(not an occupational name, the Butlers were the ruling family of Ormond)
	Jacobus le Botiller Comitus Ormonie (i.e., Count of Ormond)

Irish
Nearly half of the men's names containing Irish elements include an explicit relational element, whether Latin filius, Irish mac or Irish ó. It should be noted that while, by my classification system, any name containing mac or ó would automatically be considered to "contain Irish elements", there is only a small group of names in which this is the only Irish element present (and these will be discussed below).

Relatively few names use Latin filius and the majority of these have a complex patronym, containing both the father's given name and his mac patronym. Another odd case identifies the father with a Latin occupation, and is followed by an ó patronym. Yet another example is followed by a locative, but this is discussed below in the section on locatives. When the father's name is Irish, it does not take Latin inflections, otherwise it does.
	Philippus fil. Doncoun
	Dermot fil. Milonis McTalwy
	Rogerus fil. Milonis McNaspuk
	Andreas fil. Willelmi McShane
	Johannes fil. capellani O Brin
Mac and ó patronyms appear in approximately equal numbers. Interestingly, no names include both (although note that filius does appear in combination with each, but not both). A few mac patronyms include a following element -- the same ones where mac is the only Irish element. Names with ó patronyms contain no following element. (In only the case given above, does a name with an ó patronym contain any other element.) With one exception, the given names following mac are all Irish (the exception being Welsh). Two-thirds of the given names followed by mac patronyms are also Irish. All the given names following ó patronyms are Irish, and again two-thirds of the given names preceding them are Irish. The following are only a few typical examples.
	Dovenold McBalwy
	Molice McBroyg
	Oalnerauth McCorkeran
	Gilcrist McGylmoy
	ffoulin McKengan
	Kynnath McKeni
	Henricus McConauthey
	Johannes McGilmoy
	Thomas McKelan
	Conowre Obryn
	ffyn O Donely
	Gilmartyn O Duffgan
	Corkeran Ohurholthy
	Dovenold O Tagan
	ffolan Otothel
	Johannes O Donan
	Adam O Doude
	Walterus Otothel
In one case, a Welsh given name appears with an ó patronym,
	Meiler[o] Otothel
and in one other case, mac is followed by a Welsh name.
	Carrek McGriffyn

I've made several references to an unusual set of names -- the only ones were mac is the only Irish element present, and where it is followed by an English name. These names are as follows.
	Ricardus McHenry Vale
	McRobion Bottiller (no given name present)
The Butlers, as previously noted, are the ruling family of Ormonde at this time. The Vale family shows up numerous times in the records and presumably were another important family in the region. The general pattern we seem to be seeing here is that of powerful Anglo-Irish families adopting mac patronyms while retaining family surnames. Another name with a similar pattern, but an Irish name in the patronym, appears. I have no other references to "Walsh" as a prominent family in the area.
	Ricardus McGeiffein Walsh

Names containing only two given names seem likely to be unmarked patronyms. In contrast to the names with mac and ó patronyms, only one-fifth of the given names in this group are Irish, while all of the possible patronyms are Irish -- that is, there are no "gg" pattern names where the first is Gaelic and the second not. The correlation between adopting English given names and dropping the mac from patronyms is not particularly surprising.
	Willelmus Brenan
	Philippus Doneheved
	Petrus ffynover
	Douenoldus Mouenath

A smaller group of entries consist only of an Irish given name -- although at least a couple of these may be a given name and byname run together.
	Molmory
	Lechlen
	Gyllfynnan
	Gilumtharog
	Conghirketh
	ffleadrekin
	ffynthcor

Of the remaining names without patronyms, the vast majority are simple, with only a single byname of some type. The largest group has a descriptive byname. While all the descriptive bynames are Irish, a startlingly small number of the associated given names are Irish (about 1/20).
	Thomas Beche
	Henricus Beg
	Willelmus Boy
	Jacobus Done
	Radulfus Ker
	Johannes Og
	Ricardus Roth
	Dermot Moor
There is also one example with two descriptive bynames.
	Thomas Rowe Beg
Two names have Latin occupational bynames. (There are no Irish occupational bynames anywhere in the document.) The use of Latin suggests that these are the actual occupations of the men.
	Gillemyall medico
	Sytrok summonitore

The names with Irish locative bynames, with a single possible exception, have English given names. (The exception being Gilko, which I have not identified to my satisfaction. It may be an Irish Giolla-X name, but it might also be an English diminutive of Giles.) There are several cases where the same person appears with and without de or with and without a surname preceding the locative. The places identified include settlements in the territory of Ormond (Kilkasshe, Balymore) and territorial names from neighboring regions (Media/Methe). For various reasons, it seems quite likely that these locative bynames do not refer simply to place of origin, but have territorial implication.
	Johannes de Balligaueran
	Gilko de Balymaclothyr
	Robertus de Doundonevold
	Robertus Doundonevold
	Willelmus de Kilkasshe
	Willelmus Vale de Kilkasshe
	Willelmus de Killmor
	Willelmus Kilmor
	Ricardus de Midia
	Johannes de Midia
	Thomas Methe
	Andreas de Rathgarvan
	Johannes fil. Johannes de Balymore

As with the more complex mac names, the more complex non- patronymic names seem to be associated with important families. (In addition to the aforementioned Vale family, evidence in the records suggests that Johannes fynne Neele is an important member of the O'Neills.)
	Johannes ffynne Neele
	Ricardus Oge Vale
	Willelmus Vale de Kilkasshe

One overall pattern among the men's names seems to be for any Anglicization of name pattern to be accompanied by a move away from Gaelic given names. That is, you almost never find Gaelic given names combined with English surnames, English-style (unmarked) patronyms, or locatives.

Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland 14th Century)

Name Patterns

by Heather Rose Jones (Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, contact@heatherrosejones.com)

© 1999 by Heather Rose Jones; all rights reserved.

Name Patterns

Codes

Men

English

Irish

Welsh

Women

English

Irish

Men

Welsh

English

Irish

by Heather Rose Jones
(Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, contact@heatherrosejones.com)