Dia Dhuit Arís!

This is something else I should have wrote about awhile back. The Gaelic surname system reflects the gender of the bearer. This is much like Icelandic names, except they do not change with each succeeding generation.

The modern anglicised forms of Gaelic names represent only the male form. Gaelic surnames in their original form identify whether the bearer is a man, a single woman, or a married woman.

Example 1:
O'Donnell (anglicisation)
Ó Dónaill (male form) OH DOAN-ILL
Ní Dhónaill (female unmarried form) NEE GOAN-ILL
Uí Dhónaill (female married form) EE GOAN-ILL

Example 2:
MacMahon (anglicisation)
Mac Mathúna (male form) MAC MA-HOON-A
Nic Mhathúna (female unmarried form) NICK VA-HOON-A
Mhic Mhathúna (female married form) VICK VA-HOON-A

This system does not apply to Gaelic names that are not patronymics.

Hope this is interesting, especially for our female posters.