[ANSTHRLD] Fwd: Submission

[Andrea Hicks]

Ansteorran Kingdom Star Principal Herald wrote:
>
> A submitter sent me the following. Can someone help
> with checking it's viability?
>
> Borek, Star
> *********************
>
> SCA name- submitting Kiara de Mondragon

There are two St. Gabriel reports about Kiara, Ciara

ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2057
31 May 2000
[Typos corrected, 23 June 2000]
Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked our help choosing a medieval Irish name using <Ciara> or
<Kiara>
as your given name, and some form of the clan name <O'Fathaigh>.  You
wondered whether <Kiara ni Fhathaigh> or <Ciara inghean Fhathaigh> is
correct.  Here is what we have found.

<Ciara> or <Kiara> is not a period Irish name.  It is a modern latinized
or
anglicized form of one of at least three early medieval names, which
we've
listed below with their pronunciations [1, 2]:

   Ciar       \KEE at R\
   Ciarnat    \KEE at R-n@tch\
   Cera       \KEHR-@\

The symbol \@\ represents a schwa, the last sound in <soda>.  These
names
were all in use in early medieval Ireland, but we haven't found evidence
of
their use later in period; so we recommend them only through 1200 or so.

The names <Ciar> and <Ciarnat> both derived from a word that meant
"dark,
black", and <Cera> probably derived from a word meaning "red"; but it's
a
mistake to think of these root words as being the meanings of the names.
In its use as a name, the word was simply a name.  The fact that a
modern
man is named <Frank> doesn't suggest that he's either truthful or a
hotdog;
it's simply his name.  Medieval people used names the same way, though
they
may have recognized the root word in much the way we recognize that the
name <Heather> is identical to a common word.
snipped report

ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2105
2 Jul 2000
Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us to suggest a 15th or 16th century Irish Gaelic feminine
given
name similar to <Kiara>, and an appropriate form of the clan name <O/
Fathaigh>.  Here is what we have found.

Unfortunately, we have found no late-period Irish woman's name that
sounds
anything like <Kiara>.  If you'd like to look at some other
possibilities,
you can find some lists of names in these articles:

snipped report

>
> *If my name MUST be changed, I care more about the
> sound of the first name "kah-rah" and the meaning of
> the surname with something containg a draconic
> reference...

I have documentation for <Cara> as an Italian name and there was Spanish
(Hapsburg) influence in Italy during 16th century.

The Spanish surname Mondragon is found in KWHS Proceedings of June 2000,
Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century, page 64.

Hope this helps.

--
Andrea / Maridonna

Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the
sun every year.