# A Question on Celtic Names



## DPayne (Mar 9, 2012)

Hello,

I was wondering what would be a good source for Celtic names when it comes to people and places.  Having read The Witcher and comes Celtic lore I was wondering what certain ones meant and such.  For instance the word Caer goes before the names of some settlements.  What does that word mean?  The reason I ask is I don't want to upset some on the wrong use of a word when I try and keep my work, even though considered fantasy, as close to historical naming as possible.

Thanks,
-D


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## Ravana (Mar 9, 2012)

"Caer" is Welsh for "fort/castle"—it's what happened to the Roman word "castrum" (their fortified camps), just as "-caster/-chester" in English.

Which probably gives you at least two hints toward what you're looking at.

(1) There is no "Celtic" language _per se_ (nor was, in the sense of a single language: it's a language family). The surviving languages that have retained the greatest amount of the originals are Welsh and Irish, to a lesser extent Breton (spoken in Brittany, the westernmost tip of France), and to a far lesser extent the dialects of English spoken in Cornwall, Scotland and the islands to the north and west of Britain. (There are still people who speak Scottish and Cornish Gaelic dialects as well, if not many, though there have been conscious attempts at reviving them in the past few decades.)

(2) Look at maps of those areas. If it doesn't look particularly English, it's probably from Celtic roots.

A fair amount of Irish myth and folklore is collected in the _Mabinogion_, some number of person/place names would appear in Roman histories (Julius Caesar's, for example—particularly since at the time Gaul was also Celtic), and a few names appear in versions of the Arthurian stories (Gawain and his brothers, that I can think of off the top of my head, and I'm quite sure there are others).


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## Caged Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

As an added note, some of that area was influenced directly by the Norse, both before and after the period of raiding.  They also named settlements and traded and assimilated in Ireland, Scotland and England.  
You might want to look more into the Picts and Celts and sort of narrow down a time period you are loosely basing your world off of, because the British Isles changed a lot in 2000 years, and for such a geographically small area, it is pretty diverse and influenced by several groups.


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## grahamguitarman (Mar 9, 2012)

I'd just like to point out that the Mabinogion is Welsh not Irish. The Mabinogion is actually a collection of earlier Welsh myths and legends compiled in the nineteenth century and published as the Mabinogion. 

For Irish mythology you need to look at; The Ulster Cycle, The Finn cycle, and the Tuatha de Danaan.

But I digress, Caer is indeed Welsh for castle.

And as Ravana has indicated, there is not actually a single language called Celtic.  Celtic is a term for a loosely related set of similar cultures with a common linguistic root.  When people talk of Celtic languages they simply mean languages from within the Celtic umbrella, rather than it being the name of any given spoken language (if that makes sense)

Generally most native speakers refer to their language as Welsh, Irish, Cornish or Gaelic, not Celtic.  

Its worth noting that most non English speakers in mainland Scotland speak Scottish which is a Germanic language, (The majority of Native Scottish are actually of Germanic descent, not Celtic).  Gaelic is mostly confined to the Far north of Scotland and the Islands where the Early Pictish influences are stronger.

Just as a matter of interest, I have an English friend living in the far north of Scotland.  Her son goes to a local Gaelic school and now speaks fluent Gaelic, its a beautiful language when you hear it spoken natively.


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## SeverinR (Mar 9, 2012)

DPayne said:


> Hello,
> 
> I was wondering what would be a good source for Celtic names when it comes to people and places.
> Thanks,
> -D


For a source of names:
Behind the Name: Ancient Celtic Names


This one holds the current names:   
http://www.nba.com/celtics/roster/


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## Butterfly (Mar 9, 2012)

Mythical and Fantasy Creatures - Take a look here for monsters etc. There is a celtic section, a norse section, an an undead section too.


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## Xanados (Mar 9, 2012)

grahamguitarman said:


> I'd just like to point out that the Mabinogion is Welsh not Irish. The Mabinogion is actually a collection of earlier Welsh myths and legends compiled in the nineteenth century and published as the Mabinogion.
> 
> For Irish mythology you need to look at; The Ulster Cycle, The Finn cycle, and the Tuatha de Danaan.
> 
> ...


Very accurate information, Graham. I'm a Germanic Scot. Most of my family has lived in the Lowlands for a long time.


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## DPayne (Mar 9, 2012)

I've been trying to learn Gaelic.  Mostly to help my story out just difficult due to the fact that it is more difficult to learn a language when older than when younger and more easily influenced.  Thanks for the information, though.  I will be sure to put it to good use


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## Ravana (Mar 10, 2012)

grahamguitarman said:


> I'd just like to point out that the Mabinogion is Welsh not Irish. The Mabinogion is actually a collection of earlier Welsh myths and legends compiled in the nineteenth century and published as the Mabinogion.
> 
> For Irish mythology you need to look at; The Ulster Cycle, The Finn cycle, and the Tuatha de Danaan.



Damn. Sorry: you're right, of course. Don't know why I keep getting that one mixed up. Probably because none of those were written in Sanskrit.…


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## topazfire (Mar 19, 2012)

Another good source for names (of all varieties) are baby name websites. You can find a number of sites that specifically focus on one particular nationality or culture. There are a couple of Irish baby names sites that also provide a rough translation or origin of the name, especially if it was not originally Celtic but adopted after interaction with other cultures. Other than that.. just string seven vowels together with very random consonant...and you are good to go!


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## JBryden88 (Mar 31, 2012)

20000-names.com

You'll find Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Gaelic, and Celtic.

All of those work.


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## J.P. Reedman (Jul 17, 2012)

The best place to find authentic Irish or Welsh names is in books like THE BOOK OF INVASIONS or THE MABINOGION. To paraphrase  Alan Garner, these have loads of lists of names of people just waiting to have stories written about them.
Books to avoid-baby name books. The etymologies are often completely wrong.
And, depending what period you are writing in, be careful. I've seen way too many 'celtic' novels out there with modern names like Caitlin (which is actually not even pronounced like it's spelt) and Maire, or made up, like Liannon or Briannon (sounds like very modern names Leanne and Brianne/a mixed with Rhiannon.)


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## ALB2012 (Jul 20, 2012)

Scrivener has a name generator and you can select regions and gender I believe. there is a 30 day trial of it and it isnt rolling it is use.


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