Articles > Names Names and Naming Practices in the Fitzwilliam Accounts from 16th Century Ireland
by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn,
(Heather Rose Jones, contact@heatherrosejones.com)
© 1999 by Heather Rose Jones; all rights reserved.
Introduction
The following study is based on the Fitzwilliam family account books for
the years 1560-65. This is an Anglo-Irish family and the names are thus of
individuals living within Anglo-Irish society. (As a footnote, I discuss
names appearing in the document that have at least one element of Welsh
origin.)
The records are kept partly in Latin and partly in English, and certain
trends can be seen that distinguish the two (beyond the use of Latin
grammatical endings), so I have treated them separately.
Throughout this article, I have used italics to indicate actual
manuscript forms, and boldface to indicate standardized forms for
reference. When standardized Gaelic forms are used, they are standard
modern (pre-spelling reform) Irish. I have attempted to use the word
"Gaelic" to refer to linguistic origin (i.e., names and words
derived from Irish Gaelic and not borrowed from other cultures or
languages), "Gaelicized" to refer to non-Gaelic elements that
have undergone characteristic changes due to the Gaelic sound-system that
are reflected even in English written forms, and "Irish" to refer
to constructions, practices, etc. associated with Ireland, whether or not
they are of Irish Gaelic linguistic origin. "Anglo-Irish" refers
to the people and culture of English origin resident in Ireland. Note that
some of these families had been resident in Ireland for several centuries
at the time of this manuscript, however both linguistic and cultural
distinctions make it worth keeping them distinct from the
"native" Irish living in English-controlled society. These
distinctions can be tricky to interpret. Some native Irish families that
threw their lot in with England took on English- style surnames. Some
Anglo-Irish families "went native" and took on Irish-style
clan-names.
Because of the small size of the data, and to give readers a better feel
for what these names look like, I have included a full form for each unique
individual in the discussion on name patterns.
The Latin-Context Names
As the entries in which the names appear primarily concern payments by the
individuals in question, they all occur in the ablative, following the
preposition de (from). Women's names that are Latinized as
first-declension (ending in "-a") have an ablative identical to
the nominative. Mens names that are latinized as second-declension (ending
in "-us") have an ablative in "-o". A few names appear
as third declension, with ablative in "-e". This seems confined
to names that came into English use via Latin forms (e.g., Johannes,
Michaelis) that normally take this declension. Occasionally, a name is
treated as indeclinable (e.g., Salemon).
Only given names are Latinized in the document, and patronyms are not
"translated" into a Latin form. Names follow English spelling
practices with the exception of Latin-origin or Biblical names that follow
the traditional Latin form, even when different from the expected spoken
English form (e.g., Johannes).
Given Names
The following given names appear in the Latin section. I have given the
corresponding Latinized nominative as the heading, rather than the English
version -- which should be readily identifiable. The heading is followed by
an asterisk if no example of the name appears in combination with a
linguistically Gaelic (or clearly Gaelicized) element.
Men
Davidus | Davido (1) |
Edmoundus | Edmoundo (2) |
Edwardus | Edwardo (3) | Probably all the same man. |
Failghe? | Phallie (2) | Probably all the same man. |
Iacobus | Iacobo (3) | All different. |
Iohannes | Iohanne (3), Johanne (1) | All different. |
Lucas | Luca (2) | Probably all the same man. |
Michaelis | Michaele (1), Michele (1) | Probably all the same man. |
Murchadh | Morgho (1) |
Oliverus* | Olivero (1) |
Patricius | Patricio (4) | All the same man, the Baron of Galtrym. |
Remoundus | Remoundo (3) | Probably all the same man. |
Ricardus | Ricardo (4) | Probably representing three men. |
Robertus | Roberto (3) | Probably all the same man. |
Solomon | Salemon (1) |
Thadeus | Thadeo (5) | Probably all the same man. |
Walterus* | Waltero (2) | Probably all the same man. |
Willelmus | Willelmo (1) |
For a total of 18 different names, representing at best estimate 26
men. The most popular is Johannes (4), followed by Iacobus
and Ricardus (3), then Edmoundus (2), with the rest at one
each. Only two names appear to be of Gaelic linguistic
origin. Morgho almost certainly represents Gaelic Murchadh
(note that in this case the final "-o" is not a Latinate ablative
ending), and Phallie, based on O'Corrain & Maguire's discussion,
is likely to represent Gaelic Failghe. Some of the other entries may
be substitutions for Gaelic names, or for Gaelicized
borrowings. Thadeus is known to have been substituted for the
unrelated Gaelic Tadhg, and Johannes in the Latin records may
stand for either English John or Gaelicized Seán, as
both are clearly present in the English- context records (see below).
Women
Elionora* | Elionora (1) |
Janeta* | Janeta (1) |
Katerina* | Katerina (1) |
Margareta | Margareta (2) | Probably both the same woman. |
For a total of four different names, most likely representing four
women. All the names are of non-Gaelic origin. It is impossible to tell
whether the Latin forms might represent Gaelicized versions of the names in
question (assuming even that the names have distinct Gaelicized
pronunciations).
Bynames
In the Latin records, names include only a single byname (whether a
personal nickname or a patronym), unless one counts the title Barone de
Galtrym as a byname. The bynames are not Latinized, and names that
appear in both the Latin and English records have identical or highly
similar spellings. Since a number of the derivations are uncertain, I have
listed the entries by the manuscript form, rather than by a standardized
form. Standardized forms of the origin, or possible origins, are given in
the text.
Bynames of Irish Patronymic Origin
Note that by "patronym" I am including both the mac form
(indicating one's father) and the ó form (indicating
clan/family descent) as these are largely indistinguishable when the
patronymic marker is stripped away, as it is in many of the citations. Also
included here are patronyms based on given names of non-Gaelic origin, but
using Irish formats.
Brenan | (1) Patronym from Gaelic Bréanainn. |
Brian | (1) Patronym from Gaelic Brian. |
Connell | (1) Patronym with two possible origins. It may be a reanalysis of mac Dhomhnaill, or it may derive from ó Conaill. |
Doughan | (1) Patronym from Gaelic Dubhchú (genitive Dubhchon). |
Kellie | (1) Patronym from Gaelic Ceallach (genitive Ceallaigh). |
McKegan | (1) Patronym from Gaelic Aodhagán (genitive Aodhagáin). |
McWilliam | (1) Patronym from English William. |
Odempsie | (2 - probably both the same man) Patronym from Gaelic Díomasach (genitive Díomasaigh). (Note that although MacLysaght gives the origin as the adjective "proud", O'Brien gives several examples as a given name, in the form Diummasach.) |
Odoyne | (1) Patronym from Gaelic Donn (genitive Doinn). |
Othole | (2 - probably both the same man) Patronym, most likely from Gaelic Tuathal (genitive Tuathail). Note that the the manuscript elsewhere has "th" where the sound is clearly English "t", so the spelling does not necessarily indicate a "th" pronunciation. |
Shane | (2), shene (3 - probably representing one man and one woman in all) Patronym from Seán, Gaelicized borrowing of John. |
She | (3 - probably the same man) Patronym from Gaelic Séaghdha (genitive identical). |
|
Gaelic Descriptive Bynames |
Bretenaugh | (1) The Gaelic ethnic byname Breatnach meaning "British", usually specifically meaning Welsh. |
Duf | (5 - probably all the same man) Probably the descriptive byname Dubh (black), although it could theoretically be a patronym from the identical given name. |
Fian | (2 - probably both the same man) Possibly the descriptive byname Fionn (white, fair) or a patronym from the identical given name, however this is not normally represented as being disyllabic as here (nor could this represent a palatalized "f" with "a" as the main vowel, as the opposite is the case in fionn -- "i" is the main vowel, and "o" marks the non-palatalization of the final consonant). |
More | (2 - probably both the same man) Gaelic descriptive byname Mór (big, great). |
Oge | (3 - probably all the same man) Gaelic descriptive nickname Óg (young, sometimes "junior"). |
Roe | (1) Gaelic descriptive byname Ruadh (red). |
|
Gaelic Locative Bynames |
Fynglas | (1) MacLysaght (Finglas) identifies this as an Gaelic locative byname, from Gaelic Fionnghlas. The name could also be interpreted simply as a compound of fionn (white, fair) and glas (blue, green, gray), both of which occur as descriptive nicknames in Gaelic. |
Galtrim | (1), Galtrym (2 - in title "Baron of Galtrim") Locative byname from Gaelic Calatruim (Hogan) (possibly modern Trim, ca. 25 miles NW of Dublin?). Note that the Patrick Hussey appearing in the manuscript is identified as "Baron of Galtrim". |
|
Surnames of English Origin |
Brandon | (1) This name may be either a patronym, from Gaelic Bréanainn, or an English surname of locative origin, Brandon. (MacLysaght) |
Buttler | (1) English surname of occupational origin. The Butlers were an important Anglo-Irish family, and the one in this manuscript is identified as domina (lady). |
Dowdall | (1) From the English locative byname Dowdall (see Reaney & Wilson's entry for this name). |
Fitzgerald | (1) An Anglo-Norman patronym from Gerald. In English records of Irish patronyms, fitz is sometimes substituted for mac, however it was also used in surnames of purely English origin. |
Fitzwilliams | (1) An Anglo-Norman surname of patronymic origin from William (see previous). The final "-s" is commonly found in patronyms of this construction and is probably simply an English genitive ending. This is the surname of the family whose accounts these are. |
Lumberte | (1) Probably the English surname Lombard of locative origin. |
Plouncket | (1) English surname, originally of French locative origin. (See Reaney & Wilson under Plucknett.) The Plunketts were an important Anglo-Irish family. |
|
Other |
Aphoell | (2 - both the same man) A Welsh patronym from ap Hywel. |
Note on the women's bynames
Three of the four women bear surnames of English origin, two of them the
names of prominent Anglo-Irish families (Butler and Plunkett), one of whom
is identified as domina (lady). The fourth bears a patronym taken
from an Irishized form of an English given name. (She is also the only one
mentioned more than once.)
Names in the English Records
Given Names
Men
None of the English-language records mention women.
Artt | Art (1), Arte (3). All four probably the same man. |
Barnaby | Barnabee (1) |
Brian | Brian (2), Bryan (6). Probably representing only three men. |
Ceallach | Calloghe (1) |
Conn | Con (1) |
Donnchad | Donnawghe (1) |
Eoghan | Owen (7), Owin (1), Owyn (1). Probably representing three men. Despite the Anglicized forms, this is probably not the Welsh-origin Owein. |
Henry | Henry (1) |
Hugh | Hewgh (1) |
James | James (3). All possibly the same man, although one is bynamed More, which may conceivably identify a father and son). |
John | John (2 - different men); Shane (2), Shene (1). Two of these may be identical to one of the Johns. |
Laoighseach | Leyso (1) |
Maredudd | Meredethe (1) |
Michael | Michaell (1), Mighell (1), Myhell (1). The two latter are probably the same man. |
Niall | Nele (1) |
Patrick | Patrick (1) |
Feidhlim | Phelim (1) |
Richard | Richard (1), Richarde (1). Two different men. |
Toirdhealbhach | Tirrillawghe (1), Tyrrillawgh (1). Probably both the same man. |
Bynames
Patronymic Bynames |
Artt | Mc Art (1) |
Baron | Mc Baron (1), Mac Baron (1). Representing a single individual. Based on MacLysaght's entry for "Barron", this is most likely part of a compound clan-name "O Neill Mac Baron", deriving originally from the English title "baron". |
Conchobhar | o Conner (1) |
Díomasach | Odempsie (1) |
Feidhlim | Mc Felym (1), Mac Felyme (1), Mc Phelim (1), Mac Phelym (1), Mc. Phelym (1). All probably a single individual. |
Henry | Mc Henry (3). Representing 2 individuals. |
Hugh | Mac Hughe (1), Mc Hewgh (2), Mc Hewghe (1), Mc Hugh (1), Mc Hughe (1). Representing a single individual. |
John/Seán | Mc Shane (1) |
Laoighseach | Mac Leyshe (1) |
Mór | O More (1) |
Murchad | Mc. Moroughe (1) |
Niall | o Nele (1), Onele (1), O Nele (2), O neile (1), Oneyle (5), Neale (1). Representing 4 or 5 individuals. |
Odhar | Mc Guyre (1), Mac Guyre (1). Possibly only one individual. |
Patrick | Fytz Patrycke (1) |
Randolph | Mac Randolphe (1), Mc Randolphe (2) Representing a single individual. |
Rhys | Apprice (1) |
Súileabhán | O Sullevan (1) |
Tadhg | Mac Thighe (1) |
William | Fitzwilliams (1), Fitzwylliams (1), Mc Gwilliam (1), Wylliams (1) Representing 4 individuals. See note in the Latin section. |
|
Non-Patronymic Bynames of Gaelic Origin |
Beare | Beer (1) Part of a compound clan-name "O Sullivan Beare", derived from a place-name. |
Buidhe | Boye (2), Boyes (1 - Eng. genitive). Representing a single individual. "Yellow", but here likely part of a compound clan-name "Mac Randolph Boye". |
Gallda | Galte (1) "Foreign" (see MacLysaght under "Gault"), but possibly English "Galt" (see Reaney & Wilson) instead. |
Fionnghlas | Finglas (1) See in the Latin section, although this is a different individual. |
Mór | More (1) See in the Latin section. |
Ruadh | Roe (3) Representing 2 individuals. See reference in the Latin section. |
|
English Surnames |
Dowdall | Dowdale (2), Dowdall (2) Representing 2 or possibly 3 individuals. See reference in the Latin section. |
Miller | Myller (1) |
Pentheny | Pentenye (1), Pentney (1) Representing a single individual. Derived originally from a location in France (see MacLysaght under "Pentheny"). |
Continue to second part.
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