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ArchivesFingal - Contradictions?
I've been researching my surname McGinley which all the sources I've found agree means son of Fhionngal, composed of the elements fionn 'fair' and gal 'valour'. However whenever you look up the first name Fhionngal or Fingal, including on this site, the 'gal' element is cited as coming from the Gaelic for stranger, hence it means 'fair stranger'. Even my names bible, the Oxford Names Companion, contradicts itself between the surname and the first name, citing exactly the same spelling of Fhionngal in both entries but with different meanings.
So is there a correct answer? or if as I suspect it can mean both equally, why do most sources give one meaning as definite instead of saying this?
So is there a correct answer? or if as I suspect it can mean both equally, why do most sources give one meaning as definite instead of saying this?
This message was edited 2/10/2007, 1:22 PM
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In the reference books I have consulted, the spelling for the word that means "stranger" under Fingal is gall, with two l's, while the word that means "valor" is gal, with only one l. I don't know why such a minor difference in spelling should be associated with differences in meaning back in medieval times when spelling was not set, but perhaps the difference between one and two l's is indicating that there was a subtle pronunciation difference in Gaelic between the two words. Certainly in modern English the spellings "gall" and "gal" are pronounced differently. :)
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Hi, thanks for your input. I don't have enough knowledge of Gaelic to know about pronunciation but I guess these two similar words have lead to confusion. It's still stange though when, as I said, my names book has the same spelling of fhionngal in both entries, not Fhiongal / Fhiongall
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