From: mittle@watson.ibm.com (Josh Mittleman)
Subject: Re: Another name querry.....
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 92 17:58:24 GMT
Organization: IBM T. J. Watson Research

Greetings from Arval!  

> My chosen name, Kierana Woodvale, is the cause for this querry. "Cieran"
> was held by a few 5th c Irish saints, and was Anglicised to "Kieran".
> What I need is some direction in feminizations of male names in Irelard
> and Wales around 1150-1350. Kerena is the name of Job's third daughter;
> might my noble father have combined the two to get Kierana? Also, when
> was the change made from surnames such as "X in the wooded valley"
> changed to "X Woodvale" ? 

Let me start from the end and work my way back: "Woodvale" is a perfectly
correct surname.  Offhand, I don't know if it can be documented in period,
but it is certainly constructed in the manner of some period English
surnames.  You might want to check P. H. Reaney, "A Dictionary of British
Surnames" (2nd ed., Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976), which may list it and
give period citations.  This book is available in most good libraries.
Karl is correct that other spellings would have been used in period, but
"Woodvale" is well within the range of possible period forms.  The element
"Wood-" might also have been "Wude-" or "Wode-" or "Wod-", and the element
"-vale" could have been "-vayle" or "-val".  Reaney will show forms which
he found in period documents, with dates.

Old Testament names were very rarely used in Europe in the Middle Ages,
with a few exceptions, until the very end of our period.  Thus, "Kerena" is
an unlikely source for a mid-period Irish or Welsh name.

I believe that the Irish name "Cieran" was more often spelled "Ciaran"; as
you note, "Kieran" was a later anglicization.  The element "-an" is a
masculine diminutive in Irish; the feminine equivalent is "-nat".  Thus,
the standard Irish feminine equivalent to "Ciaran" is "Ciarnat", pronounced
roughly "KEER-nit" or "kee-AR-nit".  I vaguely recall that in some dialects
the final "t" is silent, so it might also be pronounced "KEER-na" (but
don't quote me on that until I have a chance to look it up).  I do not know
if the feminine name also produced an anglicized form; if it did, it would
have been something like "Kiernat" or possibly "Kierna".

The form you want, "Kierana", is a latinate feminine of the anglicized
masculine form.  Basically, it assumes either that "Kieran" was transcribed
into Latin as "Kieranus", which could then be feminized to "Kierana", or
that the name "Kieran" was adopted into English to such a degree as to be
treated as a native English name and feminized by the added "-a".  Neither
possibility seems very likely to me.  I would suggested you consider
"Kierna", which is close to you choice and probably justifiable from period
naming practices.

For more information on Irish given names, I recommend Donnchadh O'Corrain
and Fidelma Maguire, "Irish Names" (The Lilliput Press, Dublin 1990,
published earlier as "Gaelic Personal Names").  It is the best book on the
subject which is widely available in the US.  Many members of the College
of Arms have copies.

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Arval Benicoeur                                       mittle@watson.ibm.com