[ANSTHRLD] Welsh mixed with Scots name question

[kobrien at texas.net]

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