[tirrigh-heralds] Gaelic name help please

[Katrynka Chornovoloskaya]

Below is a portion of an email I received from a client.  He is
wanting a Gaelic name (from what I read, Irish and 12th C but I am
waiting on confirmation of this) and I know very little about Gaelic
naming practices.  I'm hoping someone can help me.

Thanks, Kat.

=============================
> > 
> > From: Thom Wescott [mailto:thom.wescott at gmail.com] 
> > Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 6:00 PM
> > To: ramsgaardwebminister at shaw.ca
> > Subject: <Heraldry Questions>
> > 
> > To M'lady Katrynka Chernovolskya, Herald of Ramsgaard, 
> > 
> > Greetings.
> > 
> > I am writing to ask for your help in registering my first
> > name and device with the SCA,
> > 
> > The name is another matter.  I have basically only the resources
I can find on-line linked through the SCA site, and the more I
research the more intimidated I become.  As I understand the An Tir
College of Heralds is not very interested in the story behind the
name, requiring it to stand on documentation alone, I will list what
I have first, and then add my brief thoughts to inform your comments.
> > 
> > My proposed name is "Bran mac sgiobair of Rum"
> > 
> > 'Bran' is listed in Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's "100 Most
Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland" and I trust presents
no problems.
> > 
> > The patronymic byname 'mac sgiobair' is descriptive of the
father's occupation.  The article by Sharon L. Krossa (I'll go back
and find the exact reference if it looks like this may be arguable)
states that although bynames descriptive of the persons occupation
were vanishingly rare to non-existent in early Gaelic naming
traditions, occupational patronymics were occasionally used. 
Sgiobair is found in McBain's Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic
Language, meaning skipper or captain of a small vessel, and is from a
Norse root.  Although no date is given on-line for it's adoption into
Gaelic, I am presuming that after a couple hundred years contact
between the Norse and Gaelic cultures, this term had made it's way
into common usage.
> > 
> > The locative 'of Rum' is from the largest of the small isles of
the Inner Hebrides.  From the official Rum website, it appears that
the earliest written reference to the name was from a sixth or
seventh century Irish monk "Beccan Ruim."  The island was also
referred to as Rhum, at some point, and I have not been able to
determine which would be the most prevalent spelling in 12th century
Europe.
> > 
> > As for my romantic defense of the unusual formation of the name,
since my personna's father was a Norse seaman settling in a Gaelic
community, it seems to me unlikely that a person would be known
locally in those times as "Bran mac Ragnar" or some such, and the
Gaelic descriptive patronymic would slide more easily off the local
tongue.  I have also included a second, geographic byname since my
personna has spent much of his life on extended "merchant" trips, and
sailing the Mediterranean with the Italian and Norse fleets in
support of the crusades, where the descriptive patronymic would not
hold much meaning.
> >