Aulay is a Scottish masculine given name. It is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic Amhladh,[1] Amhlaidh,[1] Amhlaigh, and Amhlaibh.[2] The standard Irish Gaelic form of these names is Amhlaoibh (pronounced [ˈəulˠiːvʲ],[1] Munster Irish: [ˈəulˠiː]);[3] which can be Anglicised as Auliffe[1] and Humphrey.[4]
The Old Irish personal name Amlaíb is a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse Óláfr, and is recorded in the Annals of Ulster as being introduced into Ulster by "Amlaíb, son of the king of Lochlann"[5][6] In the 9th century, Óláfr may have been pronounced more like the Old Norse Áleifr.[7] A Classical Gaelic form of this Old Irish name is Amhlaíbh.
The older Irish Gaelic names Amalgaid[4] and Amhalghaidh[4] (pronounced "owl-ghee"),[3] were borne by an early king of Munster, and an early king of Connacht. Even though these names were of a different origin than the above Gaelicised Norse names, they were "totally confused" in the later Middle Ages with them.[4] In later times, Amalgaid and Amhalghaidh were Anglicised as Auley; as well as Awley, which was a spelling commonly used by the Magawleys of Calry.[4]
In the Irish counties of Antrim and Armagh, Amley is found as a variant of Aulay or Auley and gives rise to the surname MacAmley or Macamley.[8]
Notable people with these names
[edit]Personal name
[edit]- Aulay
- Aulay Macaulay, (died 1788), an English inventor of a system of shorthand.
- Sir Aulay MacAulay of Ardincaple, (–1617), a Scottish clan chief.
- Aulay MacAulay Morrison, (1863–1942), a Canadian lawyer and politician.
- Amhlaoibh
- Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin, (1780–1838), an Irish language author, linen draper, politician, and one time hedge school master.
- Amalgaid
- Amalgaid mac Congalaig, (died 718), an Irish king of Brega, from the Uí Chonaing sept of Cnogba (Knowth) of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Ui Neill.
- Amalgaid mac Éndai, (died 601), an Irish king of Munster, from the Eóganacht Áine branch of the Eoganachta.
- Amalgaid mac Fiachrae, (died 440), an Irish king of Connacht, from the Ui Fiachrach sept.
- Amlaíb
- Amlaíb Conung, (died c.875), a Norse or Norse-Gael leader in Ireland and Scotland in the years after 850.
- Amlaíb mac Sitriuc, the son of the Norse-Gael king of Dublin, Sigtrygg Silkbeard, a member of the Uí Ímharr dynasty.
- Amlaíb Cuarán, a 10th-century Norse-Gael who was king of York and king of Dublin.
- Amlaíb of Scotland, (died 977), was king of Scots during the 970s.
- Amlaíb mac Gofraid (died 941), a member of the Norse-Gael Uí Ímair dynasty, was king of Dublin from 934 to 941.
- Olaf II of Norway, the Norse-Gaels called him Amlaíb.
- Amlaíb Ua Donnabáin (died 1201), king of Uí Chairpre Áebda slain by William de Burgh and the O'Briens.
Within a patronymic name
[edit]- Amalgado
- Conaing mac Amalgado, (died 742), an Irish king of Brega, from the Uí Chonaing sept of Cnogba (Knowth) of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Ui Neill.
- Cúán mac Amalgado, (died 641), an Irish king of Munster, from the Eóganacht Áine branch of the Eóganachta.
- Dúngal mac Amalgado, (died 759), an Irish king of Brega, from the Uí Chonaing sept of Cnogba (Knowth) of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Ui Neill.
Other
[edit]- Cín Lae Amhlaoibh, an Irish language diary written by Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin.
- Dónall Mac Amhlaigh, (1926–1989), an Irish writer.
- Dùn Anlaimh, a crannog located on the Hebridean island of Coll, Scotland.
- Dunan Aula, a cist located in Craignish, Argyll and Bute, Scotland; traditionally named after 'Olaf, son of the king of Denmark'.
- Mac Amhlaoibh and Mac Amhalghaidh (Irish septs), Irish septs and clans.
- Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, (born 1978), an Irish musician and singer from County Kerry, Ireland.
"Hamlet" hypothesis
[edit]Hugh Kenner (1989) has argued that the name Amloði (the Old Icelandic form of the name Hamlet) originates with the Irish form Amhlaoibh.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Hanks, Patrick; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Hardcastle, Kate (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of Names (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 341, 342 399, 400. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
- ^ Dunkling, Leslie (1978). Scottish Christian Names: an A-Z of First Names. Johnston and Bacon. pp. 24, 143.
- ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (1996). Irish First Names. Collins Gem. HarperCollins. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-00-470942-0.
- ^ a b c d e Ó Corráin, Donnchadh; Maguire, Fidelma (1981). Gaelic personal names. Academy Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-906187-39-5.
- ^ Stafford, Pauline, ed. (2009). A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500-1100. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-1-4051-0628-3.
- ^ "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Amlaíb / Amhlaoibh". Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ Woolf, Alex (2007). From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7486-1233-8.
- ^ Edward MacLysaght, Book of Irish Surnames, MacCamley
- ^ Kenner, Hugh (1989). A Colder Eye. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins Paperbacks. pp. 82–83. ISBN 0-8018-3838-X.