English names in Ireland
When did English names come into common use in Ireland? Would it have been normal for someone born in Ireland (who was Irish, not Anglo-Irish) around the mid-18th century to have an English name, or were Gaelic names used almost exclusively? Thanks in advance!
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/87410
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/87410
Replies
It's true that the English discouraged the use of Gaelic in Ireland, and hence Gaelic names. But the more important factor was changes in Church policy. All across Europe in post-Reformation times, there was a great deal of worry about Catholics giving their kids some weird crypto-Protestant name, a secular name, or a nonsense name. Since many kids were named after their godparents, and some godparents had weird names, this was a problem. There had also been a bull many years ago forbidding Catholic parents in Muslim countries to give their kids predominantly Muslim names like Muhammed, even though there had of course been martyrs and saints named Muhammed too.
So at that time (ie, not beforehand and not now), there was a strict rule that kids had to be baptized with a saint's name or the name of some Catholic holy day or theological aspect of God. The saints had to be saints in the Roman Martyrology (which did include certain Biblical OT figures). There were some exceptions where local martyrologies continued to be used for saints' names, but it took some doing by the local Catholic authorities.
Ireland had tons of local martyrologies, but very few saints in the Roman Martyrology right after the Reformation. St. Patrick wasn't on the Universal Calendar yet, even. Difficult.
So what happened was that people took "functional equivalent" baptismal names, and these were usually their legal names too, for use in encounters with the government or English speakers. If the priest wasn't sure about Patrick, you could use "Patricius," another saint with the same name. If not Brigit, you could use Bridget after St. Bridget of Sweden (who was named after St.
So at that time (ie, not beforehand and not now), there was a strict rule that kids had to be baptized with a saint's name or the name of some Catholic holy day or theological aspect of God. The saints had to be saints in the Roman Martyrology (which did include certain Biblical OT figures). There were some exceptions where local martyrologies continued to be used for saints' names, but it took some doing by the local Catholic authorities.
Ireland had tons of local martyrologies, but very few saints in the Roman Martyrology right after the Reformation. St. Patrick wasn't on the Universal Calendar yet, even. Difficult.
So what happened was that people took "functional equivalent" baptismal names, and these were usually their legal names too, for use in encounters with the government or English speakers. If the priest wasn't sure about Patrick, you could use "Patricius," another saint with the same name. If not Brigit, you could use Bridget after St. Bridget of Sweden (who was named after St.
Thanks to those who responded!
I'm neither Irish nor a specialist in Irish name usage, but I do have 18th-century Irish ancestors, and in searching birth records for them I found not one single instance of an Irish name recorded - unless you count Bridget and Patrick, which were very common. A sample of common names given to babies born between 1700 & 1800:
Patrick, William, James, Joseph, Hugh, Michael, Henry, Daniel, David, Samuel, Christopher, John
Ann(e), Margaret, Mary, Mary Ann, Martha, Bridget, Hannah, Catherine, Jane, Ellen, Honora / Annora, Johanna
You have to bear in mind that the parish clerks would always have recorded names in either Latin or English, not in Irish, as the use of the language was discouraged at the time by the British government, and had been for some time. And as far as I am aware, because of the commonness of the names in use, people would often have gone by 'bynames', which may well have been Irish. But for the purposes of a story, I think it's safe to assume that the majority of people in Ireland in your period would have had names like the ones I listed.
eta: You might want to have a look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language
Patrick, William, James, Joseph, Hugh, Michael, Henry, Daniel, David, Samuel, Christopher, John
Ann(e), Margaret, Mary, Mary Ann, Martha, Bridget, Hannah, Catherine, Jane, Ellen, Honora / Annora, Johanna
You have to bear in mind that the parish clerks would always have recorded names in either Latin or English, not in Irish, as the use of the language was discouraged at the time by the British government, and had been for some time. And as far as I am aware, because of the commonness of the names in use, people would often have gone by 'bynames', which may well have been Irish. But for the purposes of a story, I think it's safe to assume that the majority of people in Ireland in your period would have had names like the ones I listed.
eta: You might want to have a look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language
This message was edited 6/14/2015, 9:37 AM
Functional equivalent Irish names: short list
Aeneas: Aengus
Ambrose: Anmchaidh
Barnabas: Brian
Barnaby: Brian
Barney: Brian
Bernard: Brian
Calvacius: Ceallach
Celsus: Ceallach
Charles: Cathal, Cathaoir, Searlas (Gaelicization of Charles)
Cornelius: Conor, Conn
Constantine: Conor, Conn
Daniel: Domhnall
Darby: Diarmaid
David: Dathi, Daibhidh (Gaelicization of David)
Dennis: Donnchadh
Dionysius: Donnchadh
Donald: Domhnall, Donnchadh
Edmund: Eamonn
Eugene: Eoghan
Felix: Feidhlim
Ferdinand: Domhnall
Florence: Fionn, Fionnan, Fionnghin
Giles: Gioll- names.
Aeneas: Aengus
Ambrose: Anmchaidh
Barnabas: Brian
Barnaby: Brian
Barney: Brian
Bernard: Brian
Calvacius: Ceallach
Celsus: Ceallach
Charles: Cathal, Cathaoir, Searlas (Gaelicization of Charles)
Cornelius: Conor, Conn
Constantine: Conor, Conn
Daniel: Domhnall
Darby: Diarmaid
David: Dathi, Daibhidh (Gaelicization of David)
Dennis: Donnchadh
Dionysius: Donnchadh
Donald: Domhnall, Donnchadh
Edmund: Eamonn
Eugene: Eoghan
Felix: Feidhlim
Ferdinand: Domhnall
Florence: Fionn, Fionnan, Fionnghin
Giles: Gioll- names.
I actually think "actively discouraged" is too weak -- I believe it was positively illegal during the 18th century for names from the Gaelic language to be given as official forms. In fact, before the English banned "Irish" names, it was rare for Irish men to be named Patrick (or Padraig) because St. Patrick was considered too sacred to name a child after. Ironically, Patrick only became a common name in Ireland because the English accepted it as a legal name because it was derived from Latin and had a normal English form.
In one of Alexander Pope's poems (18th century therefore) he has a dig at one Lord Petre, who 'breaks the laws of God and man and metre'. Can't trace the reference, but I have read that Lord Petre was an Irish nobleman named Patrick who chose to go by Peter (surely Petre was Pope's personal variation?) because English society regarded Patrick as very down-market and far too Irish for comfort.
And didn't that work for Bridget also? People preferring to be known as Bedelia if they wanted to rise in society?
And didn't that work for Bridget also? People preferring to be known as Bedelia if they wanted to rise in society?