[MR] Irish Naming Conventions

[Dave Montuori]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008, Dylan Avalon wrote:
> I have an Irish persona and I'm trying to find some information.
> My surname is Mac an Druaidh (Son of the Druid). I'm getting married in a
> few months and my fiance wants to join the SCA and wants to take on my
> surname as hers and also be Irish.
> 
> Since Mac an Druaidh is "Son of" how does that work? Would she likewise be
> Mac an Druaidh or is there something else they did?

The word for "daughter" is "ingen" (earlier period) or "inghean" (later 
period), so if she wants to be "daughter of the druid" that's 
"ingen/inghean an druaidh". Mind you, that would imply her as your sister 
rather than your wife.

Please note that, in period, Irish women in Gaelic speaking areas would 
*not* use the same byname as their husband -- if she was born "ingen 
Dhiarmada" (daughter of Diarmid) then getting married doesn't change who 
her father was! There may be some examples of a woman being recorded as "X 
wife of 'Y son of Z'" -- how the grammar would affect the spelling of the 
words involved [a] depends on the actual names and [b] is escaping my 
undercaffeinated brain right now anyway.

Evan