Index of Names in Irish Annals: Descriptive Bynames: Gorm
by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien)
© 2000-2001 by Kathleen M. O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Version 2.0, updated 20 December 2001
Descriptive Bynames: Gorm
Meaning:
"Blue"
Note: the one person found in the annals so far with this byname is a Scottish man in Ireland.
Spellings:
What we know as a set of Irish Annals are manuscripts that were each compiled during a
particular time period, usually using older material as sources. For example, when
the Annals of the Four Masters were written from 1632 to 1636, they covered events
that occurred centuries and millenia before (including legendary history). So, when
an entry in this set of annals refers to a person who lived in the year 738, the
spelling used for that person's name is very likely not using the spelling that
would have been used in 738.
Standard forms of this name (based on spelling systems of different periods) would be:
| Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) nominative form: | Gorm |
| Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c1200-c1700) genitive form: | |
Frequency & Dates:
| Number of men found in the annals with this name: | 1 |
| Found in Years: | 1488 |
Research Notes:
Note: the one person found in the annals so far with this byname is a Scottish man in Ireland.
[Answering a question about the meaning of Gorm:]
This shows up a fair bit in Scottish genealogies -- "blue" (except
when it means "green", of course, or "grey"...). It is the blue
colour term used for eyes and the like, as well as for green grass, a
grey horse, azure in heraldry, etc. Oh, and a "negro" person! Gaelic
colours are such fun ;-) [email from Africa filia Kennoci - 13 Jul 2001]
[Answering a question about the meaning of Gorm:]
(DIL) It can be "blue", generally "deep-blue, cerulean", but that's not
the likeliest sense for it as an epithet. It can be "green (of verdure,
vegetation, water)", but that's even less likely. It could be "dark,
swarthy, black"; in this sense it was definitely applied to people. This
meaning has a figurative extension, "gloomy", but I don't know whether
it was applied to people. Finally, it could be (figuratively) "illustrious,
splendid"! All of these persisted (Dinneen), even the last (as "noble,
distinguished"). At a guess he's either swarthy or illustrious, but I see
no way to choose. [email from Talan Gwynek - 15 Jul 2001]
Sources:
Further information about the byname Gorm, may be found in:
The Sources page lists the Annals referenced below.
Information about secondary sources is included on that page as well.
Raw Data
In the table below, I have separated individuals with a blank line. That is, when there are multiple
entries in the annals that refer to a single person, those entries are grouped together.
Within the list of entries refering to a single person, I have sorted the entries
primarily by orthography when it is obvious that what I am seeing is the same entry
showing up in multiple annals. The entries that tend to use older spellings are listed first.
NOTE: The Annals referenced below under the code letters A, B, C, E, & F tend to use
later spellings than the other Annals. In some cases, the spellings listed in these Annals
may not be appropriate for the year referenced in the Annal entry.
In some Gaelic scripts, there is a character that looks approximately like a lowercase f,
but without the crossbar. This character (represented by an underscored , e, in
the entries below) sometimes represents e and sometimes ea depending upon the
context of the text.
| [Standardized form of this man's name] |
| Annals | Entry | Citation (formatting preserved) |
| |
| [Domhnall Gorm mac Alustrainn Mhic Domhnaill] |
| Co | 1488.4 | Domnall Gorm mac Alustrainn |
Medieval Scotland | Medieval Names Archive | Index of Names in Irish Annals
Feminine Given Names | Feminine Descriptive Bynames | Masculine Given Names | Masculine Descriptive Bynames
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(Jan 2006)
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