Throughout the middle ages the name was in use by various kings such as ruaidri mac faelain, ruaidri na saide buide and ruaidri ua conchobair, the last high king of ireland. The best gaelic dictionary for you and how to use it. It is equivalent to the anglo norman and hibernonorman fitz and the welsh ap formerly map. Is the name mcmillan irish or scottish or something else. Theres all these different terms that can relate to the celtic langua.
This scottish name is the anglicized form of the gaelic name mac uisdein, the patronymic mac meaning son of from the personal name uisdean. The form of a surname varies according to whether its bearer is male e. For nonmicrosoft systems, rather than utf16 the format you need the spellcheck wordlist in is more likely to be utf8. Even in our very own family, half the family spelled with mac while the other spelled it with mc. I was needing to check the gaelic spelling of the latin. Uisdean or ooshdn became mcooshdn, or son of uisdean, when hughs first son was born.
Finally, clan donald lists the name macuisdean from skye, and states that it is gaelic mac uisdean son of hugh 3rd son of alexander, lord of the isles. The first known person of this name was john of johnstone, who in 1174 gave his name to the lands of annandale in dumfrieshire which he had been granted. In some cases, the equivalent can be a cognate, in other cases it may be an anglicised spelling derived from the gaelic name, or in other cases it can be an etymologically unrelated name list of feminine scottish gaelic and. If not, it is another one of those remarkable, if not impossible coincidences. Donald in english is domhnaill in gaelic, and mac dhomhnaill is son of donald. But in most cases it will still be necessary to consult someone who is knowledgeable about medieval gaelic and medieval gaelic naming practices in order to determine the exact spelling and pronunciation appropriate for an individuals. Translate gaelic in english online and download now our free translator to use any time at no charge. I will use the spelling mcuisdean when collectively referring to this group of names, except when naming a specific person, family branch, or event in history. Use for blank tiles max 2 advanced search advanced search. Macuisdean from skye derived from the gaelic mac uisdean son of hugh 3rd. Aodh ruadh mac neill gairbh o domhnaill was a leading figure in gaelic ireland, ruling as king of tyrconnell in ulster from 1461 to 1505. The dearbhair contains over 540,000 word forms and has been developed from the original spellchecker devised by.
Scottish gaelic form of the old norse name eysteinn. Regardless, the gaelic name is so close to the mccuiston spelling and the town is right next to caisteal uisdean, and to land that we absolutely know clan uisdean owned, that it seems very likely that this town was named for our family. Tomaidh or thomas, descended from the clan chattan mackintoshes, his own grandfather being a son of william, the eighth chief of the clan chattan. Names of clan donald, names and families of clan donald. The written anglicized gaelic spelling was mcdonald note the hyphen. The variants of anglicised gaelic surnames might be because thats how they were recorded by english speaking clerks. Eoin mac huistiuin, or john mcuisdean, the very first of our name. The clan mac thomas takes its name from a gaelicspeaking highlander known as tomaidh mor who lived in the 15 th century. This spell checker for scottish gaelic was developed under proiseact an dearbhair by the european language initiative teli with funding from bord na gaidhlig. Apr 16, 2009 hugh of sleat, also known as uisdean, macdonald was an illegitmate son of alexander macdonald, lord of the isles and earl of ross.
Rinn donnchadh aoir air fear uisdean a bha na phiobaire. Second, the hyphen was left off, miswritten and misspelled thus many macdonalds were written mcdonald hyphen left off. I think i understand why you prefer the spelling that you do. The old gaelic kingdom emerged in western scotland as far back as the 6th century and the gaelic nations were famous for their phenomenal skills as warriors. Gaelic teacher davine sutherland points out that despite its more limited range of words, this little dictionary contains a lot of useful information. Scottish gaelic definition is the gaelic language of scotland. The irish family mac cathmhaoil maccawell anglicized their name as campbell. This was the name of the hero in james macphersons epic poem fingal 1762, which he claimed to have based on early gaelic legends about fionn mac cumhail. When many scottish and irish immigrants came to north american, first most could not read or write. How to use a word that literally drives some people nuts.
The history of gaels, or goidels, goes as far as the 4th century. Gaelic spellchecking for leopard and tiger legacy unlike more recent versions of mac os x, tiger and leopard do not allow for userinstalled spelling dictionaries. A majority, though a small one, of irish surnames are of gaelic origin. The lower class gaelic monoglots were largely unable to read, being deprived of both libraries and alternative means of obtaining the limited gaelic literature. Clan macdonald of sleat, sometimes known as clan donald north and in gaelic clann uisdein k. The meaning, origin and history of the given name uisdean. Hughs clan would become known as clan uisdean, or clan donald north. Uisdean mac ghilleaspuig chlerich mac ghiolla gille x n easbuig, hugh.
This interesting surname is an anglicized form of the old gaelic macghillemhaoil, later contracted to macmhaolain. Anglicized form of gaelic mac uisdein, a patronymic from the personal name uisdean. Ive got a lot to learn and i like the fact that there arent such hard and fast rules in gaelic like there are in english perhaps im wrong about that. Many are now used primarily in their anglicized form or have been subtlety changed in translation to english. Spelling of the name before the 1745 jacobite rising, the general usage was the gaelic spelling maclochlainn and the name of the clan was clann lochlainn. Early hutchisons scotland joseph hutchison ancestry. These are names that usually have no etymological connection with the gaelic name, they just have a similar sound. The use of o or mac mc before a name is frequent and a particularly gaelic form of name, which also occurs in scotland.
English spanish dictionary granada university, spain, 7. Name meaning for uisdean uisdean with description, pronunciation for uisdean. He concluded, through lack of an adequate knowledge of gaelic, that ymar was a mode of spelling lye mor, and that ymar, the father of gilchrist, was none other thau lye mor ii. This list of irishlanguage given names shows irish language as gaeilge given names and anglicized or latinized forms, with english equivalents. See more in new englishirish dictionary from foras na gaeilge. Ach lorg mi am facal ronn, a ciallachadh slaver aig mac mhaighstir alasdair agus, cuideachd, ann an dan a sgriobh donnchadh ban mac an tsaoir. Some irishlanguage names derive or are adapted from the englishlanguage eamon edmund or edward. The irish spelling was frequently maclaughlin, maclaughlan or macloughlin and in some areas macgloughlin, mcglockling or. The name was early borrowed into gaelicceltic and became there huisdean or uisdean this spelling is due to the fact that gaelic lacks the sound of the ch in church, so that in names borrowed from english it renders it sd pronounced sht, thus fletcher becomes fleisdeir and richard becomes risdeart. In some cases, the equivalent can be a cognate, in other cases it may be an anglicised spelling derived from the gaelic name, or in other cases it can be an etymologically unrelated name. Due to the relative paucity of names and surnames in gaelic, the official name of a person i. Fingal from the scottish gaelic fionnghall meaning white stranger, derived from fionn white, fair and gall stranger.
Duine gun mhath gun chron, is motha a chron na a mhath a man thats neither good nor ill is more ill than good husband. Sources vary as to whether his mother was elizabeth seton or a daughter of gillepatrick roy, son of rory, son of the green abbot of applecross. His name was recorded in 1494 as john roy makhuchone, by english speaking historians. This list of scottish gaelic surnames shows scottish gaelic surnames beside their english language equivalent.
As a complete novice regarding gaelic that was very informative. Mac, scottish and irish surname prefix meaning son. The aim of the course is that on completion, teachers are equipped with both the necessary gaelic language skills and teaching methodology to deliver gaelic as l2 or l3 from early to 2nd level. Maolain is a diminutive of maol and was frequently used in a transferred sense to refer to a devotee of a particular saint. Mac aoidh is an ancient and once powerful scottish clan from the countrys far north in the scottish highlands, but with roots in the old province of moray. The gaelic name uisdean is considered to be an equivalent. Sep 12, 2010 1 mac nic invoke the rule of lenition blocking cf sgiandubh, caimbeul vs camshron, air an taigh vs air an fheorag etc. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of john roy makhuchone, which was dated 1495, antiquities of the parishes of scotland, during the reign of king james iv of scotland, 1488 15. How to remember the spelling of definitely a definitive answer. The name is the same whether the anglicization of the gaelic name starts mac, mc or m, o or omits the prefix and continues with lochlainn, lachlan, lachlin, lauchlin, lauchlan etc. Spell checking for scottish gaelic sabhal mor ostaig.
The solution was to adopt a prefix such as mac mc is an abreviation or o. They played a powerful force in politics beginning in the 14th century, supporting robert the bruce. Nd names of scottish gaels from nongaelic scottish sources with irish gaelic forms. Mac surnames are generally of a much later date than o. Hugh maccurtin 16801755 was an irish poet, tutor, and soldier, aodh ruadh mac neill gairbh o domhnaill hugh roe odonnell irish. Write a usage hint or an example and help to improve our dictionary.
If you notice that spellchecking is not working in a document, or in part of a document, you may have to do editselect all and set the language to english. The dearbhair contains over 540,000 word forms and has been developed from the original spell checker devised by our late colleague dr roy wentworth. The scottish gaelic spelling of campbell is caimbeul. The aim of the course is that on completion, teachers are equipped with both the necessary gaelic language skills and teaching methodology to deliver gaelic as. Through the course of time, gaelic names have become associated with english names. Scottish names including the top 20 baby names of last year. The first name owen is spelled eoghan in irish gaelic in scottish gaelic the same name is spelled eoghan but anglicized as ewen or hugh.
An x in a column indicates there is at least one known example of the name used for a scottish gael in the century indicated at the top of that column. As the predecessor of irish, scottish gaelic and manx languages, gaelic brings in a naming tradition that spread its mythical heritage throughout the british isles. S docha nach biodh an cuspair uabhasach taitneach do bhard. Scottish synonym of adamson, also an anglicisation of mac aodha son of hugh. Belly ballot uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our business purposes. This is not correct, as many scottish families spell the macdonald name in many ways including mcdonald. From scottish gaelic fionnghall meaning white stranger, derived from fionn white, fair and gall stranger. Gaelic definition is of or relating to the gaels and especially the celtic highlanders of scotland. Scottish names including the top 20 baby names of last. The anglicization after the middle of the 18th century of the gaelic maclochlainn brings about the customary pronunciation of maclachlan and the common irish spelling mcloughlin. Some englishlanguage names derive directly from the irish kathleen caitlin, owen eoghan.
The article the spelling of lenited consonants in gaelic explains the effect of lenition on gaelic spelling. Scottish gaelic definition of scottish gaelic by merriam. Quick and easy gaelic names 3rd edition medieval scotland. This list of scottish gaelic surnames shows scottish gaelic surnames beside their english language equivalent unlike english surnames but in the same way as slavic surnames, all of these have male and female forms depending on the bearer, e.
Hugh became 1st of sleat and ancestor of the high chiefs. An early use of the name in antiquity is in reference to rudraige mac sithrigi, a high king of ireland who eventually spawned the ulaid indeed this tribe are sometimes known as clanna rudhraighe. Unlike english surnames but in the same way as slavic surnames, all of these have male and female forms depending on the bearer, e. This list of scottish gaelic given names shows scottish gaelic given names beside their english language equivalent. Macliver from islay clan donald maclivers derive from.
Historically, johnston has been an alternate spelling of the surname. Uisdean pronounced ooshjun, this boys scottish gaelic name has roots in the old. This is a good dictionary to carry back and forth to class, or to a destination language learning course. The naming trends for scottish babies include a variety of names, scottish names and those from other origins too. The gaelic language learning gll training course is designed for teachers who have little or no knowledge of gaelic. Meaning, origin and history of the name uisdean behind the name.
Gaelic, or goidelic languages are originally one of the two branches of celtic language family and until today three languages are still being used irish, scottish gaelic and manx. Mac aoidh, 1912 grammatical supplement with lists of words of unsettled spelling, national names, personal names and patronymics, names associated with literature, numerals, etc p. Hugh of sleat, also known as uisdean, macdonald was an illegitmate son of alexander macdonald, lord of the isles and earl of ross. There is a solution, but it is slightly more cumbersome, and comes in two parts. Uisdein, and its chiefs gaelic designation is mac uisdein son of uisdean. What is the gaelic spelling for the name tracey answers. Most of them have a long history and many of them are from myth and legend.