| Author |
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Marcia
| | Posted on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 08:02 pm: | 
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Dia dhuit, a chairde!
Does 'Ní' mean, 'only daughter of' before the family name/surname or just 'daughter of'. In other words, can more than one daughter of a 'clan' use the 'Ní'.
In American records, I've seen 'nee' (spelled that way) between a female's first and last name. When speaking in English, 'Ní' does sound like 'nee'. I'm wondering if that may be the reason for 'nee' to appear that way in old family records/bibles.
Míle buíochas,
Marcia |
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Bradford
| | Posted on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 08:11 pm: |
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A Marcia, a chara,
"Nee" indicates that the surname following it is a woman's maiden name.
For instance, "Julie nee Jones" or "Julie Johnson nee Jones" indicates that Jones is Julie's maiden name.
Unfortunately I can't answer your question regarding the exact meaning of "Ní".
Slán,
Bradford |
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Oliver Grennan
| | Posted on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 08:21 pm: |
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Hi Marcia,
The "nee" we see in English is the French word "née" meaning "born" e.g. Mary Ryan née Murphy.
The "Ní" in Irish is short for "Iníon" (daughter). It's the female equivalent of "Mac" (son) in a man's surname. All the girls in a family are called "Ní" and all the boys "Mac" or "Ó".
It was traditional in former times in Ireland for a woman to keep her birth surname after she married. |
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Marcia
| | Posted on Friday, February 28, 2003 - 09:02 pm: |
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 Cead míle buíochas, a Bradford agus a Oliver! Nár lagaí Dia do lámh! Le meas, Marcia |
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Oliver Grennan
| | Posted on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:31 am: |
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Agus go mba hé tú féin, a chara dhíl! |
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answer
| | Posted on Monday, March 03, 2003 - 08:00 am: |
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Yes, in Irish Ní means "daughter of", just as Mac mean "son of"... |
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Íosac Mac Daibhéid
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - 05:29 am: |
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It was always my understanding that Ní was the feminine of Ó (grandson). Nic is the feminine of Mac (in surnames, at any rate). |
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