[ANSTHRLD] Welsh mixed with Scots name question
kobrien at texas.net
kobrien at texas.net
Mon Oct 30 10:00:35 PST 2006
Sigh. It looks like my response to this thread has gone into the bit bucket.
Here's what I wrote.
Mari
-------------------------------------------
> OK it is the age old question but here it is:
>
> Can my client have a Welsh first name and a Scot's last name that is a
> descriptive saying she is Welsh? Naturally she wants to be Gwen but she
> wants to be Scottish... :-D I told her not to hold her breath.
> So, Gwen ____________ (Scottish for I'm Welsh or from Wells) is the
> question.
>
> Thanks (knowing the answer will probably be no but I promised I would ask
> so here it is),
If it's Scots not Scottish Gaelic, it's registerable with a weirdness (or
a "step from period practice").
My first instinct would be to look in Black for "Walsh" or "Welsh" and see
what's there.
registerable in the same name for a long time. I don't know if that's
changed, but I don't think it has.
If she wants a Gaelic byname indicating she's Welsh, the easy fix would be to
use an English version of <Gwen>. For example, <Guine> and <Gwine> are dated
to the late 16th C at http://www.s-
gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/dym_women.html These are found in
Glocestershire, near the border with Wales.
I don't know for certain what a Scottish Gaelic byname meaning 'Welsh' is,
but I know it was <Breathnach> in Irish Gaelic (see: http://www.s-
gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/DescriptiveBynames/Breathnach.shtml).
Many Scottish Gaelic words are the same or similar to their Irish Gaelic
counterparts, but not all. We'd have to check on this one.
Hope this helps,
Mari
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