Female names, circa Renaissance Scotland?

Question

The trouble is I'm writing a novel based on the mystic women of that era & no name I come up with works for me. Probably too picky. INPUT PLEASE!!!

For all who need to know, I dont need my research methods questioned. I'm not looking for peasent names here. BTW: I participate in many events with my local historical society & I love renaissance fairs. Im looking for a name with a certian melody. Common names wont work. Maybe I should look for answers among the role playing game community. How bout it ya'll?

Answer 1

While you have indicated you're characters are to be based on the mystic women, nearly all Scottish names during the Renaissance were biblical names as it was/is a very Catholic country. However, for help in this matter you might consider your local SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) chapter, as this would be in their field of expertise!

Answer 2

Guess it depends on what part of Scotland they're from.. in the lowlands, you have more names related to English (with the Scots language) and in the Highlands, you have the Gaelic-speaking Scottish. I tried doing some research and I found this site: http://medievalscotland.org/scotnames/ . It has a fair amount of research on Scottish names, both from Scots and Gaelic and all things related to them before or during the 1600s, ranging from given names to surnames to naming conventions.

I'm not exactly sure if Biblical names in their regular forms would be correct. There are a number of Biblical names with Scottish forms (Ian for John, Dàibhidh for David, Marcas for Mark), sooo I guess you should do some more research and decide what works for your character(s)!

Answer 3

Check out here: http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/sco_f.php
It will give you a long list of Scottish female names along with their meanings. Hope it helps.
For example:
ABI f Scottish
Short form of ABIGAIL

AFRICA (2) f Irish, Scottish
Anglicized form of AIFRIC

AILEAS f Scottish
Scottish form of ALICE

AILEEN f Scottish, English
Variant of EILEEN

AILSA f Scottish
From the name of an island off Scotland, which was originally spelled in Old Norse Alfsigesey, meaning "island of ALFSIGR".

AINSLEY m & f English, Scottish
Variant of AINSLIE

AINSLIE m & f English, Scottish
From a surname which was from a place name: either Annesley in Nottinghamshire or Ansley in Warwickshire... [more]

ATHOL m & f Scottish
From the name of a district in Scotland which was derived from Gaelic ath Fodhla "new Ireland".

Answer 4

It doesn't sound to me like you have done all that much research on the period and the area. I think Northern Renaissance was basically Protestantism - much more stringent than the Catholicism of the Southern Renaissance thanks to its founder Martin Luther. Biblical names would be correct. But you could search through this site for names that catch your attention. It is a good site to keep on bookmarks for when you are working. Most writers keep sites like this and a thesaurus site open.
http://www.behindthename.com/

Pax - C

Answer 5

Here are a couple of links:
http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/scotnames101.shtml

http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/sco.php

Be aware that there weren't always many distinction between "peasant" names and royal ones.

Another good idea for your novel is to be able to simply write better. I counted eleven errors in your short message. Yes, I know "it's just Yahoo Answers," but writers should not make mistakes like that.

Answer 6

Put Mc in front of a sur name and every one think he or she is scottish...
Suggestions:
Angel McBond
Laura McFly
Laura McAngel
Angel Scott
Angel McScott
Johan.