De-Anglicisation of Names

[Frank MacDuffy]

Maybe someone can help me, I've run across the name "Oren" in my family tree and all I could find was that it's lowlander. I can't remember where I read that though. That's not actually my name though, that was the name of a Great-Grandfather on my mother's side. I'm a proud McPhee (Macfie) myself!

[gilmore]

Let me run against the tide here with a question that goes the other way. I have never heard how Gilmore was transformed from the Gaelic to Morrison in English. They seem quite different words.

[cloves]

oh this is a really cool thread!

MY own surname is German..it's Steeves...but was Stieff.

Grandmother was Prosser which is Welsh

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit, mo charaí!

Sorry I didn't answer all day, but life outside the X called!

I see much has gone on since I last checked. Let's begin.

RICH Yes, I believe that Rich could be a shortened form of (M(a)c)Ritchie, son of Richie = pet form of Richard. I don't know what the original Scottish Gaelic form of Richie was, but I do know that the Scottish Gaelic form of Richard is Ruiseart. So, perhaps the name is Mac Ruiseirt (the spelling has changed to signify possession). Pronounced MAC RISH-ERT. This is just an assumption on my part, but Richie could have possibly been rendered Ruisidh thus making Mac Ruisidh (pronounced MAC RISH-EE)

WALKER This again! Ah, my friend you misunderstood what I meant. I meant the etymology of the name Walker/Waulker itself is Lallans (i.e. Anglic) not the bearers who would be of varying origins. Many Highland clans have names which have no basis in the Gaelic language. Gunn, MacLeod, and Lamont come to mind. In fact, their progenitors were Norse! Does this mean that they are not full-blown Gaelic clans? Of course, they are! To suggest otherwise would be to tell a Fitzgerald or a Burke that he is not Irish!

CAIG I will assume this is the Scottish name. In which, the original Scottish Gaelic form could be one of two possibilities: Mac Caog (pronounced MAC CAYG) son of the conniving one? (probably an unlikely etymology) or Mac Thaidhg (pronounced MAC CAYG), son of Tadhg a personal name meaning poet.

HUME From everything I have read this name was interchangeable with Home. Indeed, this was the usual spelling until the Scottish philosopher David Home changed his name to Hume. It is of Norse origin, from holmr meaning island or water meadow. This is the same origin of the English surname Holmes. Uamh, the Gaelic word for cave is pronounced OO-AV or OO-AW (depending upon which dialect is used). The letter "h" at the beginning is a somewhat unique characteristic of the Gaelic languages. "H" is really considered an accent and not a letter. The "h-" is placed at the beginning of Uamh because it begins with a vowel and the word preceding it ended in one.

OREN Hmm... The only thing that comes to mind is the Gaelic name Odhrán (pronounced OI-eR-AWN) meaning pale green. St. Odhrán was the patron saint of Port Láirge (Waterford) in Ireland. So, perhaps it was Gaelic after all, and spelled: Mac Odhráin?

MACPHEE Not quite as simple as it looks! MacPhee (also, M(a)cFie) can be one of these two Gaelic surnames: Mac a' Phì = son of the ? (pronounced MAC A FEE) or Mac Dhuibhshith (MAC IV-HEE) meaning son of the dark faerie.

GILMORE/MORRISON Gilmore and Morrison and its variant anglicisations represent a small number of unrelated Gaelic names both Irish and Scottish. Gilmore is an anglicisiation of Mac Giolla Muire (IRISH) or Mac Gille Muire (SCOTTISH GAELIC). Both are roughly pronounced MAC GILL-A MWER-A. The name means son of the servant of the Virgin Mary.
Morrison was used by the Clann Mhic Ghille Mhoire of Lewis. This was done because of the similarity of sound between Moire and Morr-. The -son suffix, of course, is just a translation of mac.
Also, Morrison can represent the Scottish Gaelic name Mac Mòirein (pronounced MAC MORE-IN) son of Mòirean = great one?
Confusing? So, if you are Scottish, and your name is Gilmore, chances are it was Mac Gille Muire.

STEEVES/STIEFF I read some of what you wrote earlier about your name. A Gaelic transliteration would be Stiabhas (pronounced STEE-UV-US) or Stiabh (pronounced STEE-UV)

PROSSER Yes, it is Welsh. Originally it was Ap Rhosier meaning son of Roger. A Gaelic translation would be Mac Roistir (pronounced MAC ROSH-CHER). When Welsh names were anglicised the "p" from "ap" was often merged with the root. From this, we get names like Probert (Ap Rhobert), Price (Ap Rhŷs), or Pritchard (Ap Rhisiart).

[nixphotography]

Ok I don't know if any of these are celtic for sure. My last name is Nix, fathers mother Charles, mothers dad Batson, mothers mother is Hudson. So lets see if you can do anything with these. I've been told by folks on my moms side that they are welsh Irish, but I'm not sure. What do you think.


Brett Nix

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit, A Bhriot! (Brett)

NIX Probably the same etymology as Nixon meaning son of Nick. This would be either English or Lowland Scots.

CHARLES This could be tricky. At first glance, Charles is of course an English name. But it is found in Scotland. Traditionally, the name Tearlach (pronounced CHER-LAKH) was used as an equivalent to Charles, though it really isn't. This brought about the Scottish Gaelic name Mac Thearlaich (pronounced MAC ER-LEE) which was typically anglicised as MacKerlie, but sometimes as Charles.

BATSON Probably similar in origin to Bates or Beattie, in which case it is a diminutive of Bartholomew. This would be English or Lowland Scots. Mac Bait (?) could work as a Gaelic half-translation/transliteration. Pronounced MAC BAT.

HUDSON Definitely English. As in the famous explorer Henry Hudson. It means son of Hugh. A Gaelic translation could be Mac Uigh (pronounced MAC OO)

[slohairt]

I forgot something:

NIX could be translated into Gaelic as Mac Nioc (IRISH) or Mac Neic (SCOTTISH GAELIC)! Both pronounced MAC NICK

[nixphotography]

Cool thanks so much.

Brett

[turpin]

Dia Dhuit, A Thurpin!
Campbell: "crooked mouth" Caimbéal (IRISH) Caimbeul (SCOTTISH) Probably topographical in origin, not facial!

Just a note of interest. The name Campbell appears to be of Norman origin. It may well have come to mean "crooked mouth" in Gaelic, and I have an ancestor named John "Black Lips" Campbell, but as shown in my family tree, Malcolm MacDuibhn, born about 1020 in Lochowe, Argyle, Scotland, married Cambus Bellus de Beauchamp of Normandy. Their son was named Archibald (Gillespic) Campbell, also born in Normandy, and he married Eva Na MacDuibhn of Argyllshire.

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit!

The preceding posts have shown us that the transition of the Gaelic (and in a broader sense, Celtic) language naming system into the English-speaking one was quite rough and sloppy. Gaelic bears about as much relation to English as does Polish, so this is only natural.

The anglicisation of Gaelic names was done in a variety of ways. Some were correctly translated, others were mistakenly translated based on similarity of sounds, while others were rendered phonetically by Anglophone scribes. This last method was the most haphazard.

What this has done has given us a whole mess of names which really could be shortened down to a much smaller list. Names which look similar were often the same name, merely anglicised by a different person and/or in a different area. To add to the confusion, names which sounded similar in their original Gaelic form (but were unrelated) were anglicised into the same name! MacConnell is a good example. It can either be Mac Dhomhnuill, Mac Connuill, or Mac Conaill!

To add even further confusion, many people cling to the belief that their Gaelic name is somehow a different name than same one spelled with a slight difference. "I'm a MACDOUGALL, not a MACDOWELL!"

Last but not least, comes the Mac/Mc myth. Many people (especially North Americans) believe that Mac is Scottish and Mc is Irish. Or others say it is vice versa. This is a myth, plain and simple. Mc (and also M') was simply a printer's contraction of Mac. Both forms can be found in both countries.