Bases Teóricas

Official names, for the purpose of this thesis, are usually those which are given to a child at birth by their family. However, this is not excluding the possibility that these names might change or be replaced through life. A more precise definition would be that of one or several personal names which might be recognised and confirmed as their proper name by the individual themselves.

Unofficial names are those which are bestowed on the bearer and used amongst their community, or a section of it, but which would be unlikely to appear on documents identifying them. In some cases, as shall be demonstrated, these names are as important if not more so than the official names discussed above. The forenames used in these names are the ones usually used to identify the person within the community and so might not reflect exactly those which are written on official documents.

4.4.1.1 Official name structures

There were five possible ways in which official names could be structured in this community. These all include at least one surname and forename and are set out below:

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Structure A: [Forename] [Surname] e.g. Donald MacDonald

Structure B: [Forename] [Forename] [Surname]

e.g. Donald John MacDonald (with Donald used as the familiar name and John seen as a middle name and rarely used)

Structure C: [Forename] [Forename] [Surname]

e.g. Donald John MacDonald (with Donald John used as a complete familiar name in itself. Referred to as ‘double-barrelled’ or ‘double’ names by some informants)

Structure D: [Forename] [Forename] [Surname]

e.g. Donald John MacDonald (with John used as the familiar name and Donald rarely used, other than for official purposes)

Structure E: [Forename] [Surname] [Surname]

e.g. Donald MacIsaac MacDonald (with middle surname seen as a middle name and not used in the same way as the final, hereditary, surname)

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Structure A

This was one of the most common structures in the names discussed as well as being the most common amongst the informants themselves. It was seen as essential for a child to be given at least a forename and a surname but there was no compulsion to give any more names than this. So a male could be called Iain MacLeod and a female Rhona MacDonald without any middle name at all. It was also common to refer to someone with a middle name (i.e. Structure B) in this way.

Structure B

This was also a common structure, in which a middle name would be given but rarely used. In this case Structure A would usually be used to refer to someone, and the middle name would generally not be known to many people beyond the bearer and their family. Examples collected included names such as Christina Ann MacLean and Thomas James MacAskill, where the bearers would be usually known as Christina MacLean and Thomas MacAskill.

Structure C

In this structure, two forenames are given in the same positions as Structure B, yet both are always used. These two forenames are seen as a single name. Three of twelve informants had this type of name structure. For example, Donald John Macleod would be referred to as Donald John, rather than Donald, in

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conversation. Though this is more common for males, it is also fairly widespread for a female to be called Mary Ann, for example, rather than Mary.

Structure D

This structure, with the second forename being the familiar name which was normally used, appeared the most unusual. However, examples were still given. A man with the full name Donald Stuart MacNeill would be known as Stuart

MacNeill, with others often having little knowledge of his first name.

Structure E

Though the bearer of this name structure has what looks like two surnames, only the final name functions as a surname. The middle name is a surname, rather than a forename as in Structure B. However, functionally this structure behaves in a similar way in that few people are likely to be aware of the middle name. The surname invariably had connections to family, either as a mother’s maiden name or as part of a relative’s full name (e.g. George Rose’s grandson being called George Rose MacDonald).

Although this list of possible name structures appears reasonably comprehensive, it is not quite so clear-cut. It would also be feasible, and possibly unremarkable, to have more than one forename or surname as middle names (between the initial forename and final surname). However, this did not occur in my sample nor in the personal names of others whom the informants discussed. This

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suggests that in this community the practice of having more than one middle name is rare.

Though most of these official name structures are stable, variation within a name is also possible. This is particularly common between Structures B and C. A person might usually be known as John, but close members of their family or elderly members of the community might call them John Archie.

4.4.1.2 Unofficial name structures

Structure A: [Forename] [Place-name]

Structure B: [Forename] [Characteristic (hair colour, size, etc.)]

Structure C: [Characteristic] [Forename]

Structure D: [Forename] [Occupation]

Structure E: [Nickname]

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Structure G: [Forename] [Father’s forename] [Possibly grandfather’s forename] [Possibly forenames of earlier generations]

Structure H: [Forename] [Forename of mother or other guardian]

Structure I: [Forename] [Characteristic] [Father’s forename] [Possibly grandfather’s name, etc.]

Structure J: [Forename] [Father’s name] [Father’s characteristic/ occupation/etc.]

Structure K: [Forename] [Characteristic] [Father’s name] [Father’s characteristic/occupation/etc.]

Structure L: [Forename] [Occupation (of father/forefather)]

Structure M: [Forename] [Nickname (of father/forefather)]

Structure A, B, C, D

These involve the addition of an identifier to an individual’s forename. The forename used will not always be the official version of the name. For example, a man whose name was given as Archibald on his birth certificate may commonly be known by the hypocoristic form, Archie, or the Gaelic form, Gillesbeag.

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The identifier in these name structures refers to the individual themselves. This can be a place-name associated with that individual (Structure A), of the type Archie Creagan for Archie who lives, or lived, at the rocks. Structures B and C allude to a specific characteristic of the individual, particularly size or hair colour. The typical Gaelic construction is shown by Structure B, which is more common in the data than Structure C, which would be the expected English construction. The adjective comes after the noun in Gaelic, leading to examples such as

Gillesbeag Mor (Structure B). The English equivalent (which was less common in the data) would be Big Archie (Structure C). Occupational identifiers are not particularly common and come in the postposed position, regardless of whether the occupation is being referenced in Gaelic or English. So a woman could known as be Morag a’ Bhanc or Morag the Bank (Structure D).

Structure E

This is the only type of unofficial name in which the forename is disregarded entirely. A nickname of any type replaces the forename as well as any other names and the bearer is known by this name. The usage of this type of name can vary considerably between individuals. Certain nicknames can replace the bearer’s official name in all but the most official domains (such as documents, bank cards, court). Other nicknames are known only within a bearer’s family or amongst a restricted group of friends.

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Structure F

This type of unofficial name is used to identify a wife by using the name of her husband. Either her forename or simply the word bean (‘wife’) is used before the husband’s name. The name used for the husband will always be the one with which he is most easily identified within the community. For example if he is known by a strong nickname or an unofficial byname then that will be used in this structure.

Structures G, H, I, J, K, L, M

In this case the Gaelic version of all forenames would normally be used. The names of the father, grandfather and any further forefathers would be in the genitive case. In Gaelic this causes lenition (where an <h> is added after most initial consonants and certain later vowels can change in quality e.g. Domhnall in the genitive case is Dhomhnaill). In some cases the word mac, ‘son of’, or mhic, the genitive form, are used between the individual names but this is rare in this Western Isles community. It is more likely that gille (‘son/boy of’) or nighean (‘daughter/girl of’) are used in place of the forename to signal relationship to the father. In general, however, this information is simply implied by the context of the utterance. In this close-knit community, the cultural knowledge necessary immediately to understand the relationship between those stated in the name is commonly available.

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If either the child or forefather’s usual name in the community contains a postposed byname then this will be included. For example, if a son known as Alasdair Beag has a father Donald, then his patronymic would be Alasdair Beag Dhomhnaill (Structure I). If the father were known as Aongais Ruadh then the son would be Alasdair Beag Aonghais Ruadh (Structure K).

In some cases a person will be called by their name plus an occupation associated with their family (Structure L). This is usually their father’s occupation and relates to a very prominent or unusual post with which somebody is easily identified, e.g. Seonaidh a’ Mhinistear (‘of the minister’) or Murachadh a’ Jhanitor (a Gaelicised rendering of ‘of the janitor’).

In Structure M, a nickname is used within a patronymic structure in place of the expected forename. This is the case when a nickname is used as the predominant name within the community for the father. There have been instances of a

grandfather’s nickname used in this position after becoming closely associated with a family.

Metronymics, as opposed to patronymics, are rare within this community. However, they do occasionally occur and examples could include names such as Anna Chatrìona Mhor. It is also possible for the name of a guardian to be used in this position if the father is unknown or did not bring up the child (Structure H).

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