Irish Naming Standards

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Ireland

This is a supplement to Help:Name_Fields_for_European_Aristocrats for Irish profiles. If a conflict between the two occurs, a G2G discussion should be started.

Contents 1 pre-1200 Vikings 2 Irish Language 3 Surnames 3.1 Patronymics 3.2 Hereditary Irish Surnames 3.3 Spaces? 4 Epithets 5 Anglo-Irish and Hiberno-Norman 6 Titles 7 Social Classes in Ancient Celtic Ireland 7.1 Kings, Chiefs, and other Leaders[2] 7.2 Druids, the Priestly Class 7.3 Bards, recorders of history and genealogy 7.4 Brehon, the judges 7.5 Áes Dána (‘people of craft’) Artisans and Craftsmen 7.6 Flaith, the Nobles 7.7 Feines, the Freemen 7.8 Bothach, the Lowest Class 7.9 Cumal or Mug, Slaves 7.10 Military 8 G2G discussions 9 Sources 9.1 pre-1700

pre-1200 Vikings

If an individual was born in Scandinavia before 1200 the profile belongs in the Early Scandinavia Project and should follow the Early Scandinavia Project’s Name Guidelines. Scandinavian descendants born in Ireland should follow Irish naming standards, with any recorded Scandinavian forenames or surnames included in the Other Nicknames and Other Last Name(s) fields, respectively.

Irish Language

Gaelic Irish profiles should use the correct Irish of the time period (though written in the Latin script). Alternative spellings, including anglicised and modern Irish versions, should be placed in the Other Nicknames and Other Last Name(s) fields.

The Irish language is usually roughly divided into the following four periods:

1. An Sean-Ghaeilge/Old Irish (Goídelc): c.4th – c.10th century.
2. An Mheán-Ghaeilge/Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg): c.10th – c.13th century.
3. Gaeilge Chlasaiceach/Early Modern Irish (Gaoidhealg): c.13th – c.17th century.
4. An Nua-Ghaeilge/Modern Irish (Gaeilge): c.17th century – present day.

NB: use h instead of the buailte / ponc séimhithe; do not simply omit the dot.

Surnames

• Hereditary surnames were first used in Ireland c.1100, until this point Irish surnames were patronymic (derived from the father’s forename), or very rarely avonymic (derived from the grandfather’s forename). Do not use a kingdom, clan, or place name in the LNAB.
• If the Annals use different names, usually the name recorded in the oldest annal should be used.
• Historically Gaelic Irish women did not adopt their husbands’ surnames.

Patronymics

• Irish patronymics use the father’s name in the genitive case (definition, examples and Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names), preceded by mac (son) or ingen (daughter), in lower case. The use of ingen also triggers lenition (the placement of a h after the first letter of the following word: see here). For example, the sons of Domhnall would be surnamed mac Domhnaill, and his daughters ingen Dhomhnaill. Irish patronymic LNABs should include mac or ingen in the LNAB.
• Irish avonymics use the same structure as patronymics, only with ua (grandson) in place of mac, e.g. ua Conchobhair.

Hereditary Irish Surnames

• Hereditary surnames began to be used in Ireland c.1100, most were frozen patronymics, what were patronymics or avonymics but became inherited intact rather than changed every generation. Mac and Ua (or Ó in Modern Irish) are capitalised when part of a hereditary surname, rather than lower case as in patronymics or avonymics.
• In feminine surnames Ua is replaced by Ní (contracted from inghean Uí) and Mac is replaced by Nic (contracted from inghean Mhic). The use of Ní or Nic triggers lenition (the placement of a h after the first letter of the following word: see here). Note that the contracted forms did not come into use until sometime after 1600.
• Historically Gaelic Irish women did not adopt their husbands’ surnames. However, in modern Irish married names Ó becomes Bean Uí or just Uí, and Mac becomes Bean Mhic or just Mhic. For example, the wife of Seán Ó Caiside would be Bean Uí Chaiside and the wife of Séamus Mac Murchaidh would be Bean Mhic Mhurchaidh.
• After the introduction of hereditary they were often used alongside patronymics for several hundred years. If an individual had both a patronymic and a surname, the patronymic should be placed in the Middle Name field and the surname used as LNAB.

Other Notes:

• When Ua or Ó is followed by a vowel a h is added, e.g. Aodh -> Ua hAodha.
• Mag, Nig, and Mhig are sometimes used instead of Mac, Nic, and Mhic before a vowel sound, e.g. Mag Uidhir.
• NB: Ó was not used in surnames until at earliest the 18th century, and was not standardised until the 20th century. Ua should be used in the Last Name at Birth and Current Last Name fields if used at the time, while the modern spelling can be included in the Other Last Name(s) field.

Spaces?

In the Irish language there is a space between Ó or Mac and the remainder of the surname; this should be reflected in the name fields that use Irish. This space should not be used in anglicised names. e.g. Ó Flatharta and Mac Domhnaill in Irish but O'Flaherty and McDonnell in English.

Epithets

• Many Irish-language names contain an epithet or byname, e.g. Gráinne Mhaol Ní Mháille, Seán Bán Mac Grianna. These should be not be included in the Middle Name field, but in the Preferred Name or Other Nicknames field (whichever deemed appropriate) alongside the forname. e.g. Seán Bán Mac Grianna. Proper First Name: Seán, Preferred Name: Seán Bán, Middle Name: [no middle name].
• Óg and Beag: The epithets of Óg and Beag (used similar to Jr), if used from birth, should be placed alongside the forename in the Proper First Name field.

Anglo-Irish and Hiberno-Norman

• Names of families of French or English origin settled in Ireland should be named according to the style adopted by the family, in the language used by the family.
• Gaelicised Norman Names (names of French origin but in the Irish language) should be used in the prefixless form in the LNAB (e.g. Búrc instead of a' Búrc or de Búrca) with prefixed versions in the Current Last Name or Other Last Name(s) fields as appropriate.
• Names in French or English should follow the guidelines established by the Euroaristo Project.

Euroaristo Guidlines:^[1]

• Last name at birth: This is the name they had (or would have been known by) when they were born. In most cases, it is one word. Exceptions to this are ‘de Vere’ and families that had ‘St’ as part of their name (such as St John, St Aubyn, St Hilary, St Liz, St Pol, St Sauveur). See below for PREFIXES IN LAST NAME AT BIRTH FIELD.
• Names like St John: "St" is a prefix which stays with the surname; that is, "St John" goes in the LNAB field, and St is not dropped nor separated out into the prefix field. Do not put a period after the St and do not spell out the word Saint.
• The common ‘de’, ‘du’, ‘le’, ‘la’, ‘de la’, ‘von’, ‘van’ before a surname does not go in the LNAB field; it goes with the surname in the Current Last Name field while the surname, ONE word, goes in the LNAB. Example: Last name at birth: "Villefort", Current Last Name: "de Villefort". There are some exceptions to this rule, such as de Vere or de la Mare. Members of these families should have both words in the LNAB field. Please contact a lead in the Euroaristo project for naming clarification.
• Names that include ‘Fitz’: Fitz- names should be written with mid-caps, that is, a capital letter for the father's name. For example, write FitzAlan, FitzGeoffrey, FitzGerald, etc. This is the same pattern as used in names with Mac-: MacMurray, MacDonald, etc. Do not leave a space.

Titles

Titles and distinctions should be recorded in the Other Nicknames field, in the appropriate language and style of the descent lines, e.g. Gaelic "Chiefs of the Name" style varies by family: The [suname], Prince of [location], etc.

• In the case of surrender and regrant, both the Irish title and that granted in the English Peerage should be noted.

Social Classes in Ancient Celtic Ireland

Kings, Chiefs, and other Leaders^[2]

• Árd-Rí "High-King"
• Rí "King"
• Cúig Cúigi i.e. "five fifths" or provinces, Connacht, Leinster, Meath, Munster, and Ulster
• rí ruirech or rí cóicid was the king of a province
• ruire was the overlord of several tuath
• rí tuaithe was the head (i.e. King) of a tuath, Also refered to as "The" (kin-group/clan) or "Ua" (kin-group/clan)
  • To refer to the group as a whole. Uí (note the fada on the i). An individual of the clan would be surnamed Ua.
• tuath "tribal kingdom" or clan
• airi aicme, the upper class
• herenagh, was the chief elect of a sept (family group) Wikipedia
• Tanist, the heir apparent to a Celtic chief or king, typically the most vigorous adult of his kin, elected during the king's lifetime.

Druids, the Priestly Class

They were the clan’s healers, judges, mediators in disputes, and advisors to kings (Some say the Kings of Tara came from this class) Between 450 and 1200, they became known as the Bard, Brehon or Filí class.

Bards, recorders of history and genealogy

Bards (aka Filí) were a class of poets and singers, entertainers, and more important, recorders of history and genealogy.

Brehon, the judges

Brehon were the judges, close in importance to the chiefs. Brehon law was administered by brehons.

Áes Dána (‘people of craft’) Artisans and Craftsmen

Anyone with a skill in high demand sat high on the social ladder.

Flaith, the Nobles

Men and women who attained their positions by skill, wealth, the strength of their character, or leadership. They did not necessarily rise through kinship.

Feines, the Freemen

They owned their own huts, fields, and cattle and managed their own affairs. Greater landowners were supported by céilí, or clients. These and other grades of society, minutely classified and described by legal writers, tilled the soil and tended the cattle.

Bothach, the Lowest Class

Unskilled laborers, criminals, and indebted farmers. People with no property and stripped of all rights.

Cumal or Mug, Slaves

• cumal, or woman slave, Cumal was also widely used as a unit of value for cattle and land.
• mug, or male slave

You could end up a slave if you had overwhelming debts and sold yourself into slavery; if you were captured in battle; or if you were born of slaves. ^[3]

Military

• Kern mercenary foot soldier (both Irish or Gallowglass)
• Gallowglass, gallóglaigh (lit. "foreign young warriors") mercenary soldier of Scottish decent.

G2G discussions

• Guidelines for Irish O' names also Mac and Mc
• Use of Irish or English in Names
• Verch, Ferch, Ingen which is proper in Ireland ancestors?
• Irish vs. Norse patronymic LNAB?

Sources

1. ↑ from Wikitree guidelines Name Fields for European Aristocrats
2. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/place/Ireland/Early-Celtic-Ireland
3. ↑ Irish Slaves - Stephen Tempest, MA Modern History, University of Oxford (1985)

• http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/Pedigrees1ProperNames.php John O'Hart
• Library Ireland, Irish Names
• Early Irish Feminine Names
• Ancient Celtic Names
• Gaelic Written Alphabet
• Wikipedia -Category:Irish-language surnames
  • Irish Name Wikipedia
• A Survey of Irish Surnames 1992-97 by Sean J Murphy
• Irish prefixes and the alphabetization of personal names Róisín Nic Cóil
• IRISH NAMES AND SURNAMES by By Rev. P. Woulfe 1922
• ancient social classes, Irish history, medieval era by Mark E. Fisher
• An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language
• Encyclopaeda Britannica - Early Celtic Ireland Political and social organization
• The Spelling of Lenited Consonants in Gaelic

pre-1700

• Naming practices among the Irish secular nobility in the high middle ages, Freya Verstraten Department of History, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
• What is an Irish clan? Dr Catherine Swift, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick