From: ximenez@us.itd.umich.edu 
Message-Id: <199805040639.CAA29525@ren.us.itd.umich.edu> 
Subject: Final Report on Echna 
To: goldmooneachna@yahoo.com 
Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 02:39:09 -0400 (EDT) 
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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for information about the name <Echna>, which you want to use as
a 6th century Irish feminine name.  You also asked for a surname which
would mean "fatherless".  Here is what we have found.

<Echna>, pronounced \AHKH-na\, is the modern spelling of the name of a
female character in the Finn cycle of Irish legend.  (The \KH\ represents
the harsh, rasping <ch> sound in Scottish <loch> or German <Bach>.)  In Old
Irish versions of these stories, the name appears as <Echna> and <Echnach>
[1].  We do not know of any other examples of this name; in particular, we
have no evidence that it was used for real people.  Some names used in
literature were real names; others were not.  For example, the Irish
avoided naming their children for gods and goddesses and, after the coming
of Christianity, for saints.  <Echna> is constructed from elements found in
other given names, though, so it is not impossible that it might have been
used by real people in your period.  However, we do recommend that you use
a name that is known to have been used in period.  There is a similar-
sounding name, <Echrad>, pronounced \AHKH-rahdh\ (\dh\ is the <th> in
<then>), which is recorded in use in the 10th century [1].

In your period, an Irish woman would most often have been known as her
father's daughter.  The word <ingen> "daughter" was used to combine the
woman's name with her father's, like <Echrad ingen A/eda/in> "Echrad
daughter of A/eda/n".  (The slash represents an accent on the preceding
letter.)  

"Ni/" is not a period Gaelic word.  It is a contraction of <ingen ui/> that
first appeared in the 17th century.  That phrase, <ingen ui/>, means
"daughter of the [male] descendent", and was used as the feminine
equivalent of <O/>.  That is to say, the daughter of a man surnamed <O/
Briain> was herself called <ingen ui/ Briain>.  However, this kind of
personal name did not come into use until the 10th century, so it would not
be appropriate for your persona [2].

We cannot find any Irish name that means "fatherless".  Because Irish
culture put a strong emphasis on family connections, we think it is
extremely unlikely that anyone in period Ireland would have deliberately
described herself as having no family.  If you are trying to convey either
that you are an orphan or illegitimate, perhaps one of the Academy can
suggest something that carries one of these meanings; let us know if you'd
like us to try to find something.  If you simply want a name that doesn't
mention a specific father or clan connection, you could use a descriptive
nickname; you can find a list of some appropriate bynames in an article on
the web:

  Early Irish Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's "Corpus
  Genealogiarum Hiberniae"
  http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html

<Agnomain> is not a Gaelic word.  There is a Gaelic phrase <gan ainm> which
means "without a name", but it was not used in personal names [2].  Gaelic
descriptive nicknames were not so abstract, as you will see from the
examples in the article mentioned above.


I hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Tangwistel filia Morgant, Talanus
Albus, Alvina Giruumi, Affrica filia Cenneochi, and Carolus Connoveri.

For the Academy,


  Arvaldus Myrkfaelensis
  2 May 1998

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References

[1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The
    Lilliput Press, 1990). 

[2] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on
    Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). 

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