De-Anglicisation of Names

[slohairt]

I guess the translator I used was wrong: Scottish
Aidmheil, Mòralach, Misneach

Faith, Honour, Courage

If you could assist me I'll change my signature.
Is there a Scottish Gaelic word for Chivalry?
as in "Chivalry above all" like a motto.

I wouldn't say they're really incorrect, just a result of the difficulty in translating two unrelated languages.

According to my handy Scottish Gaelic dictionary:

Aidmheil really means profession or persuasion.
Mòralach means greatness or dignity.
Misneach does mean courage, spirit, or fortitude.

The words for 'chivalry' in Irish is cúirtéis or ridireacht. (Pronounced KOORT-AYSH and RID-ER-AKHT) I believe the corresponding Scottish Gaelic word is Cùirteas.
In Irish, I think 'Chivalry above all' would be ridireacht is tábhachtaí. (Pronounced RID-ER-AKHT ISS TAWV-AKHT-EE) Scottish Gaelic differs from Irish dramatically in terms of grammar, so I couldn't even begin to tell you what it would be in that language.

[DWFII]

I've seen something of this sort done for my mother's family name--Sweeney. I've seen the derivation of Sweeney from MacSween and so forth.

I've read that after Bannockburn many of the MacSweens left for Donegal where they became Sweeneys...that's seem pretty straight-forward. But those that stayed somehow became MacQueens and/or MacEwens. Do you have any idea how MacSween becomes MacQueen or even MacEwen?

[slohairt]

I've seen something of this sort done for my mother's family name--Sweeney. I've seen the derivation of Sweeney from MacSween and so forth.

I've read that after Bannockburn many of the MacSweens left for Donegal where they became Sweeneys...that's seem pretty straight-forward. But those that stayed somehow became MacQueens and/or MacEwens. Do you have any idea how MacSween becomes MacQueen or even MacEwen?

SWEENEY The original Gaelic form (whether Irish or Scottish) is Mac Suibhne. (Pronounced MAC SWIN-EE or MAC SWIN-yA) This translates to son of Suibhne, a personal name meaning peaceful or tranquil. The aspirated form of the name is Mac Shuibhne (pronounced MAC HWIN-EE or MAC HWIN-yA) This is where M(a)cQueen is derived from. Just another bad Anglicisation, really. MacEwen is an unrelated name, the original Scottish Gaelic forms are Mac Eobhainn or Mac Eoghain.

The MacSweeneys came to Donegal (from Scotland) as gallowglass (mercenaries) long before Bannockburn, and served the O'Donnell of Tirconnell. If I remember correctly, there are three MacSweeney clans in Ireland: MacSweeney of Donegal, MacSweeney of Fanad and MacSweeney of Muskerry.

[DWFII]

SWEENEY The original Gaelic form (whether Irish or Scottish) is Mac Suibhne. (Pronounced MAC SWIN-EE or MAC SWIN-yA) This translates to son of Suibhne, a personal name meaning peaceful or tranquil. The aspirated form of the name is Mac Shuibhne (pronounced MAC HWIN-EE or MAC HWIN-yA) This is where M(a)cQueen is derived from. Just another bad Anglicisation, really. MacEwen is an unrelated name, the original Scottish Gaelic forms are Mac Eobhainn or Mac Eoghain.

The MacSweeneys came to Donegal (from Scotland) as gallowglass (mercenaries) long before Bannockburn, and served the O'Donnell of Tirconnell. If I remember correctly, there are three MacSweeney clans in Ireland: MacSweeney of Donegal, MacSweeney of Fanad and MacSweeney of Muskerry.

Thank you. Your contributions to this thread...all 35 pages worth...are invaluable and very interesting, not to mention educational. I wish I had your command of the Gaelic. I don't know any.

[CelticSire]

Greetings from Texas!

After reading this entire post, let me say that I am both amazed and grateful for the amount of knowledge shared herein. Would you mind if I asked about my grandfather's middle name of Atherton? We've always been told it is Irish in origin, but you know how family tales can be...

[slohairt]

Greetings from Texas!

After reading this entire post, let me say that I am both amazed and grateful for the amount of knowledge shared herein. Would you mind if I asked about my grandfather's middle name of Atherton? We've always been told it is Irish in origin, but you know how family tales can be...

ATHERTON I would say, etymologically speaking, it is of Anglo-Saxon origin. It is derived from Æthelhere's town (settlement). As a note of interest, Æthelhere was a 7th Century King of East Anglia. 'The name means noble lord(?) Alas, Anglo-Saxon is certainly not my forté!

I'll reiterate what I mentioned in an earlier post. A number of Irish surnames are not rooted in the Irish language. It does not mean they are any less Irish. Ask any Fitzgerald or Burke!

[TatterDel]

Okay so I read the first six pages and couldn't wait to add a post (I'll continue reading in a minute).
I am a Brown who married a Smith... you don't need to go there.
One of the names (on my husband's tree) no one can seem to tell us about is Leatherwood. Some in my husband's family said it was Welsh. I have found it spelled Letherwood on family tree sites.
and you recently post:
"Gaelic Leathar meaning half. This would refer to a land measure."
So I was curious what you (or anyone) might know about Leatherwood.

cont.
And now I edit my post as I have read all the pages.
WOW! you are incredible and so is this thread!

I recently tried to find the origins of our town's name, as the locals can't seem to agree where it came from. One of it's founders was of Irish decent so I followed that rabbit trial only to find similar words & names in Ireland. The name... Tullahoma, TN.

[slohairt]

Okay so I read the first six pages and couldn't wait to add a post (I'll continue reading in a minute).
I am a Brown who married a Smith... you don't need to go there.
One of the names (on my husband's tree) no one can seem to tell us about is Leatherwood. Some in my husband's family said it was Welsh. I have found it spelled Letherwood on family tree sites.
and you recently post:
"Gaelic Leathar meaning half. This would refer to a land measure."
So I was curious what you (or anyone) might know about Leatherwood.

cont.
And now I edit my post as I have read all the pages.
WOW! you are incredible and so is this thread!

I recently tried to find the origins of our town's name, as the locals can't seem to agree where it came from. One of it's founders was of Irish decent so I followed that rabbit trial only to find similar words & names in Ireland. The name... Tullahoma, TN.

LEATHERWOOD Hard to say, really. Probably topographical origin. If of Gaelic origin, it could be a sort of half-translation meaning half-woods(?) In Gaelic (Irish or Scottish) that would be Coille Leathair. (pronounced KAWl-yA LE-HER)

However, if it is of Welsh origin, this poses a problem: Welsh IS a Celtic language, and thus related to the Gaelic language family, but it is NOT mutually intelligible by any means. In fact, Welsh and Irish (Gaelic) have a similar relationship as English does to German. The Welsh words for 'half' and 'wood' are hanner and coed respectively.

TULLAHOMA That sounds a lot like a First Nations/Native American name. The apparent similarities you have found in Irish place names are probably those which begin with tulla, tullagh, or tullig. These are all derived from tulach, an Irish word for hill or mound. I suspect it is just a coincidence.

Hope all of this helps in any way!

[TatterDel]

Yes the local suspicions are that Tullahoma is of Am. Indian possibly of Cherokee or another Indian Nation. I just thought with the connection to
one of it's founders there might be a bit of Irish to it (long shot). We are on the Highland Rim of the Cumberland plateau. Tullahoma is a bit higher then the surrounding areas and it drops off on West side.

As for Leatherwood, is there any Welsh words (or celtic or gaelic) that may have been Anglicized that could have been miss-interpreted as Leatherwood?

I'm fascinated by word origins but Gaelic is such a unique language. The American English language has so many words that originate from other languages. But I don't know of any words we use that originate from Gaelic. Perhaps that is why it seem so difficult for me to learn.

Thank you so much for this thread.

[slohairt]

Yes the local suspicions are that Tullahoma is of Am. Indian possibly of Cherokee or another Indian Nation. I just thought with the connection to
one of it's founders there might be a bit of Irish to it (long shot). We are on the Highland Rim of the Cumberland plateau. Tullahoma is a bit higher then the surrounding areas and it drops off on West side.

As for Leatherwood, is there any Welsh words (or celtic or gaelic) that may have been Anglicized that could have been miss-interpreted as Leatherwood?

I'm fascinated by word origins but Gaelic is such a unique language. The American English language has so many words that originate from other languages. But I don't know of any words we use that originate from Gaelic. Perhaps that is why it seem so difficult for me to learn.

Thank you so much for this thread.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of Welsh is rather limited. I only studied it briefly at school. I studied Irish, Scottish Gaelic (briefly), and Welsh (briefly). I wouldn't say the Gaelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx) are terribly unique. There are grammatical features it shares with French and other Romance languages in relation to word order, and there are a number of loan words found within the Gaelic languages derived from Norman-French, Norse, and English. It is still an Indo-European language. It just belongs to a different branch (Celtic) than English does (Germanic). I would say a truly unique European language would be something like Basque.

There are a few English words derived from the Gaelic languages: whisk(e)y, bog, bard, banshee, brogue, slogan, galore, clan, keen (the sound), slew, and trousers are some I can think of.

Sláinte!