De-Anglicisation of Names

[smaughazard]

Thanks, Seán.

You're providing some amazing info in this thread.

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit, mo charaí!

MURRAH This is a bit difficult as there can be so many possibilities. The first (and most obvious) would be to connect it with Murray, which in Scottish Gaelic is Mòireach (MORE-yAKH) or Mòireibh (MORE-AVE or MORE-AY). Another possibility is Muireach meaning mariner (MWER-yAKH). An Irish derivation could be Mac Murchadha (modern Irish: Mac Murchú) meaning son of the sea warrior. Pronounced MAC MER-KHY-A and MAC MUR-KHOO respectively. In addition, there is a Scottish name that corresponds to the this Irish name: Mac Murchaidh. It means the same thing, but is usually anglicised as Murchie. So, as you can see, there are many options to go on!

O(A)RD Apparently topographical in origin, coming from the place name An t-Òrd (AN TOARD) meaning the round mount.

HINES Though probably unrelated, you may find it interesting that there is an Irish surname Hines as well. It is Anglicised from Ó hEidhin (OH HY-IN) meaning descended from Eidhin. Eidhin is a personal name meaning little ivy(?)

WHITE White is obviously one of those names which can belong to any group. In Scotland, however, it is a bit easier to narrow down. The Lowland Scots origin would, of course, be the same as the English. The spelling Whyte is much more common among the Scots. White/Whyte is also an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Gille Bhàin (MAC GILL-A VAWN or MAC GILL-A WAUN) meaning son of the white (fair) youth or son of the servant of the white (fair). It could be any of these etymologies, really.

HENRY In the Lowlands, it is Henry, Hendry, or Hendrie. If Gaelic in origin, it would Mac Eanruig (MAC EN-RICK) which is usually Anglicised as MacKendrick or Henderson.

LAMONT (Though it technically wasn't posted!) Mac Laomuinn (MAC LAY-MIN) is an Anglicisation of son of Laomann which means law-giver. The Gaelic name itself is originally from Old Norse.

[freddie]

Thanks for you answer to my question on the name Hume. Yes it could well be from the old Danish word Hulmr, and in fact the first on record was Aldan de Hume (Aldan could well mean 'old Dane'). Although I still like to think that we are descended from the old MacDuff Earls of Fife. Anyway here's another name that was a cadet of the MacDuffs, and is thought to mean 'caves', the name Wemyss (pronounced "Weems").It is also the source of the East Fife names East Weems, West Weems and Pittenweem, and along the coast where all these places are found are caves. It could well be that the MacDuffs were themselves of Danish origin. Danes were powerful in northern England at one time and it is known that they were very close to the old Scottish royal line. The name MacDuff is translated to 'Son of the dark (one)' and Danes were known as 'dark gentiles' at this time. Another curios fact is that in Liecestershire, in the territory of the old Danelaw (the portion of England ruled by the Danes), there is (among others) a place called Wymeswold (I think I've got the spelling right, if not it's very similar) which isn't a million miles away from the name Wemyss !

[Matthew Siegmann]

I have a few names from my ancestry though I'll keep it to the ones that I believe to originate in the British Isles.

Stringer
Keith
Teasley
Boyer
Cole
Lane
Rathburn (My grandmother says there are a few variations of this name and the original was Rathbone)

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit!

Hume: There probably still is a legitimate connection to the MacDuffs. It may be a matter of intermarriage with Danes or adoption of a separate name. Who knows? Your point about Danes being referred to as "dark" is certainly valid. Dubhghall, for instance, means "dark foreigner" and referred specifically to someone of Danish ancestry. Conversely, those of Norwegian origin were referred to as "fair." THus, Fionnghall would mean "fair foreigner."

Wemyss: Wymss is anglicised from Uamhais, which means "at the cave." It would really have been pronounced OO-AV-ISH or OO-OW-ISH but was likely rendered this way by an Anglophone scribe.

OK, the next list (which was kinda long...)

Stringer: I'm stumped, to tell you the truth. My guess would be English. A Gaelic transliteration would Stringéir (STRING-YAIR)

Keith: From Old Brythonic "coed" meaning "woods." This was later Gaelicised as Caith (pronounced KAY).

Teasley: Probably English. The last part is probably from leigh, Anglo-Saxon for "meadow" or "field." A Gaelic transliteration would be de Tíoslaidh (DE TEES-LAY)

Boyer: Probably English, and likely derived from Bowyer=bowmaker. A Gaelic translation would be Mac an Boghaire (MAC AN BOY-ER-EE) "son of the bowmaker."

Cole: If English, this is a diminutive of Nicholas. If Irish, it is anglicised from Mac Giolla Chomhghaill (MAC GILL-A COLE) meaning "son of the servant of St. Comhghall."

Lane: If English, the meaning is just as it appears, someone who lived by a lane. If Irish, it is anglicised from Ó Laighin (OH LY-IN) "descended from Laighean." Laighean was a personal name meaning spear. See Lyons from a previous post.

Rathburn: This name is really a combination of Gaelic and Lallans. The first element is from the Gaelic "rath", a circular fort. The second is the Lallans word for stream. So, it could be interpreted as "one who lived at the circle fort at the stream(?)."

Whew! I have noticed that a number of people are posting names which are most certainly English (or other). While I can decipher many of these, it is certainly not my area of expertise. I studied the etymology of Celtic names, not Germanic or Romance (via Norman-French). But I will still try!

[pdcorlis]

Even though we struck out on Corliss - this has been one of the most interesting threads I've read here in quite some time. THANK YOU for eight pages of sheer enjoyment!

[gilmore]

Dia Dhuit!
Boyer: Probably English, and likely derived from Bowyer=bowmaker. A Gaelic translation would be Mac an Boghaire (MAC AN BOY-ER-EE) "son of the bowmaker."

It is a French occupational name, literally means "archer," they served as something like policemen in medieval and Renaissance France.

[Bill]

Thanks very much for your previous answers and the hard work you are putting in here on our behalf.

I have one more for you it is my wife's maiden name which is Holland. It is known that the Hollands came from Ireland but it is not known from what part. I thought that if the entomology were known that the information might give us some clue as to where.

A tremendously BIG THANK-YOU!

Bill

[slohairt]

If pronounced BOY-YAY, and of French/Norman-French origin, than yes I would say this is the etymology. If looking at an English source I would still say Bowyer "bowmaker." The French word for archer IS archer, though pronounced ARR-SHAY.

And now, a note on what I actually meant by De-Anglicisation of names.

The first nations the English/Normans/Anglo-Normans (whatever you choose to call them) decided to conquer were the Celtic nations. At first, the invaders were generally assimilated into the native population. This was particularly true in Ireland which lead to the phrase "More Irish than the Irish themselves" regarding the Normans who lived there. This was not quite the case in Scotland. While Gaelic was, for a time, the primary language of Scotland, it quickly gave way to Anglic languages and was pushed northwest to the Highland line. The Lowlanders and Highlanders largely regarded each other as separate people. This did not mean that they didn't influence each other. It does, however, mean that Scottish Gaelic was under pressure and in decline before Scotland was even part of the U.K.

In time, these Celtic lands were eventually conquered completely. (Scotland, many would say, technically wasn't. It joined England/Wales through the Act of Union in 1707. I won't bother debating this point as it will inevitably open a HUGE can of worms!) Naturally, the conquerors demanded that the conquered learn their language and adopt their customs. Such is almost always the case in human history. For the natives, there was also a practical need to learn English. Thus, some chose to anglicise their names to assimilate, while others had their name forcibly changed. This was a systematic attempt to destroy a culture. I'm not blaming anyone today, nor am I deliberately trying to make a politically charged statement. It's a simple fact of history, I'm afraid.

So, when I meant De-Anglicisation, I meant taking a name that had its roots based in the Gaelic language (whether Irish or Scottish, or even Manx) and reverting it to its original form, bypassing the myriad of anglicisations and mispellings that later occurred. This would also include names which, although not originally Gaelic in origin, were well established (and assimilated) during the Gaelic period of these nations. The Gaelic badge was cultural not ethnic, and once someone was assimilated into their culture he or she was considered one of them. This was especially true of the Norse and Normans.

To a lesser extent, I studied the effect of Anglicisation on Cornish and Welsh naming practices, as well as the Gallicisation(?) of Breton names. Unfortunately, there is much less written about this than there is on the Gaelic languages.

I'm happy with the response I've gotten from this thread and I'm glad that what I have learned has been of use to others. Whatever one may think, wearing the kilt is a promotion of Gaelic culture to some extent, and it would benefit us all to learn something of that culture in case it disappears forever.

So, enough with the soapbox. Bring on more names!

[slohairt]

Dia Dhuit, A Bill!

Holland: Yes, Holland is Irish. It also has nothing to do with the Netherlands!
It is an anglicisation of Ó hAoláin (OH HAIL-AWN) meaning "descended from Aolán." Aolán is a corruption of Faolán which means "little wolf" and would denote someone who is cunning. Occasionally it was anglicised as (O')Whelan, though this particular anglicisation usually refers to the name Ó Faoláin.

Other anglicisations include: O'He(a)lane, O'Hayllane, O'Hil(l)ane, O'Hylane, O'Heolane, O'Hoolan, O'Holane, O'Hollan(d), Heelan, Helen, Hillan(e), Holan, H(e)yland, Hiland, and Holand.