Graham,
It's difficult to say exactly why a name is chosen. Obviously pride in one's origins will play a big part, or pride in who you don't want to be associated?with. On that latter angle perhaps Little -- derived from Liddell, and presumably derived from galgadael, from whichI believe the placename Galwyddel was apparently derived -- was proudly saying " we are not Dal Riatans/Irish gaels", but rather "we are Scottish gaels". "Yes, we are foreign to the Irish gaels: we are unique"? Perhaps they identified with the rebel image -- the last of a unique breed who originated from neither the Irish or the Saxons/Germanic invaders of "their" island.
I've heard some people today wish their DNA tests results reveal them to be of Viking heritage. That's okay, but I'd rather identify myself as Celtic, particularly as Scottish, but ultimately way before that as a relative of the Amesbury Archer and his companion (L21), both who died around 2400 and 2300 BCE respectively, and we're buried close to Amesbury which is close to Stonehenge.
But what would be a cool name I would choose today to identify myself and my fellow clansmen as distinctively memorable for all of time? Perhaps "CunnedaScot" to reflect my believe I'm related to the once powerful Cunneda clan from which legends of King Arthur (Owain Dantgwyn) derive, or from whom the first king of Scotland may have descended from with a name that included "Canaed(a)" in his title. Or perhaps because it seems quite likely that the surname Kennedy likely derived from Cunneda, and which likely went through the name Kanada/Canada first, and since I'm an English speaking Canadian whose grandfather came from Kintyre, Scotland, the surname CunnedaScot just seems appropriate. ;-)
I believe a surname doesn't have to accurately identify your origins. It just has to identify with what you want to be associated with, as many surnames of christian origin clearly demonstrate.
Daryl
On Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:12 PM graham renton < gjorenton@...> wrote:
Daryl,
? ? ?What a lovely eloquent writing style you have, it's a pleasure to read.
I too have given up on FB, as it doesn't suit my personality type.
? Regarding your investigations around the origin of the name 'Little', I would suggest that it is not of Gaelic origin, although 'Begg' as a surname is sometimes seen in Scotland which is probably a back translation into Gaelic. The Gaels all believe they
were descended from heroes, so it's unusual to find a surname that is not linked to a semi-legendary person. Place names and physical traits are seldom, if ever used in the Gaeltachd as a surname.? I think it's important to note that people of the same surname
were very aware of eachother in the past, to the point that the MacPatrick's, for example, all chose to become Patterson's en-mass. The same thing with the Black's, from MacGilleDhuidh and many other examples. The surmane Little may have undergone a 'Clan'
type uniformity reinvention.
? My instinct tells me that Little is a corruption of old Brythonic, lots of 'L's and 'Ll's in old Welsh.
Graham.
Hi Paula, and Mike, and Brad, and Leake. It's good to hear from you all in this format again.
I've glanced over the information you sent, Leake, and it's impressive. However when one goes to Wikipedia (the link you sent me) for the origins of the Little Clan it only references 'size' based on Latin terminology as per: "
Origins
of the clan
According to Black, Little is a descriptive name and was originally written in??documents
as?parvus?meaning little or small.?Given
that the name is descriptive it is impossible to find any clear origin of the Little name in Scotland."
I'm not bold enough to change wikipedia but maybe I should be if there is consensus in my Little name origin theory. I'd prefer that a Little do it though. ;-)
Since I initially began my interest in surname origins years ago I've noticed a common theme -- that explanations of a surname origin are slanted in favour of any particular language of choice. In other words a guessing game, seemingly without
much thought. Why would a person prefer a Latin origin theory for a Gaelic name (if it is indeed Gaelic)? If someone can come up with an alternative ethnic origin of Little I'd gladly consider it. But the language location, and politics in which a name arose
should all be considered.?
For example why would a Scotsman name his ~100 foot steam yacht the 'Medea' which was built in 1904 (in 51 days) and currently sits (operationally) in the San Diego Maritime museum?
This question even arose in a book written about the Medea. The name has a seemingly negative connotation to it which I would paraphrase as a name rhyming with witch. To an Englishman this makes no sense, but to a Scotsman it does. My great
grandfather captained the Medea when it was first built for a rich man surnamed Hall who, I believe, lived near Carradale, Kintyre, Argyll, Scotland. Captain? Duncan Martin was a fisherman whose job it was to earn a living fishing in the very dangerous waters
around the Kintyre. Many men lost their lives to the sea including his eldest son who seemingly accidentally fell overboard when fishing with his father and younger brother. In an instant he was gone, never to be seen again despite frantic efforts to find
him. Deaths on the sea were so common then that a local Campbeltown (where Cpt. Duncan lived) woman made unique sweaters for each fisherman which would then be necessarily used as a positive identification for them upon drowning.? So, in typical Scottish fashion,
when a rich man names his yacht he attempts, in disdain for the wicked sea, to name it as having characteristics far greater than the sea. In essence it's like fighting fire with fire. What can defeat something evil? Perhaps something more evil.
Thus the name Medea was given to defeat the evil sea -- in my opinion. Today's English speaking yacht enthusiasts have never made that correlation, and are therefore confused as to the Medea name origin. I contend that surname origins are similarly
misunderstood by people unfamiliar with the original language and culture. Perhaps a Scot linguist should be commissioned to investigate and change the origin definition of the surname Little. Then perhaps future googling of the name will give them something
more resembling a likely probability of the origins of the name. Why should I care? Maybe it's OCD, I don't really know, except that I despise misinformation and wild guesses designed to appease the masses.? I much prefer well thought out theories, even conflicting
ones, which tickle my imagination as being more possible than the first silly thought that comes to mind. ;-)
Where is this L193 group forum you (Paula) mention? I apologize, Leake, if you gave it to me already.
Best,
Daryl
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