50% or more of my ancestry was Irish, 12.5% (one-eighth) Finnish, and the balance English. Now, the surname I currently use was given to me at age 5 when my mother remarried and has always felt unnatural to me. I was born David Warner, and I notice that Warner is often the English equivalent of Ó Murnáin. However, in my case the name derives from my Finnish great-grandfather, Werner Alexander Rönnqvist, who decided to change his name to Alexander Warner to fit in when he moved to England. None of the possible names I have quoted is Gaelic, but I have noticed some very un-Irish surnames that do have Gaelic equivalents. Gerry Adams is one example, who goes under the Irish name of Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh, but as far as I know Adams is a Scottish surname of non-Gaelic provenance. I would like an Irish alternative identity. What should I call myself?

given your situation (and I was) I would advise using your closest related irish surname (perhaps your mother's maiden name or wherever that 50% came from).

What are the other sloinnte in the Irish 50% of your sinsearacht?

Yes, my mother's maiden name is an Irish Gaelic surname. The Irish surnames in my ancestry are Donovan, Barry, Carroll, Dineen, Turbitt, Callan, Trainor, McCartney, Lucas, one of which is my mother's maiden name.

well, the one that was your mother's maiden name is the closest relation of the bunch, and your specific blood-connection to your irish heritage, so if you must lay claim to one, that'd be the one.

i do the same when using my irish name (Antaine), instead of pairing it with my italian surname...

i actually debated having it legally changed at one point...

Donovan, Barry, Carroll, Dineen, Turbitt, Callan, Trainor, McCartney, Lucas

Bain do rogha astu! Take your pick.

You also get to pick among a number of version of David in Irish.

quote:

...my italian surname... i actually debated having it legally changed at one point

One of the more prolific and diverse writers in Irish for some decades, a Dublin native I believe, is surnamed Rosenstock. Better to use Irish and sign a "foreign" name than something like Séamus Ó Séaghdha after a whole bunch of English. The web is full of the latter. The former actually has more cachet! :-)

Micheal Davitt, go ndéanfar Dia trócaire air, always used his English name too. Peig Sayers doesn't seem too Irish a name either.

dennis

my penname when writing in english is simply Antaine (which all the english speakers and half of the irish ones mispronounce anyway), but when writing in Irish and expressing the name in full I use Antaine Ó hÓgáin.

I take alot of pride in my Irish sept connection, and am within striking distance of proving my lineage from Ógán himself (been doing the family tree for years now)...and Ógán has a pedigree that goes back to Milesius (via Briain Boroimhe...he and Ógán shared a grandfather, Lorcan)

Anyway...I know most dislike people who screw around with names, which is why I say don't go any further removed than the mother's maiden name

Hello David,
You can look in MacLysaght's surnames of Ireland to find out a little bit about these various surnames. But the entries are general and might not relate to your family in particular.
The Carroll family was very distinguished in America -- John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in America (in Baltimore), and Thomas Carroll (I think he was his brother), a signer of the Declaration of Independence. I think they spell it Ó Cearbhaill in Irish.

quote:

dennis

my penname when writing in english is simply Antaine...

Ceist amháin, ós ag caint ar ainmneacha atá muid, a Antaine: cén fáth ar scríobh tú m'ainm le 'd' beag agus do cheannsa le 'A' mór?

Padraig mac Aedh Ó Proinntigh - Patrick Brontë

Brontë - can't be Irish, can it?

MacLysacht lists this in his book "The Surnames of Ireland".
_ See Prunty.

(Ó) Prunty, Pronty: Ó Proinntigh (proinnteach, bestower, generous person). This east Ulster name is better known to the world as Bronte, a variant assumed by the father of the well known authoresses.

Dennis, a chara

sorry...I have a bad habit of dropping caps when writing on the internet like this...I only put them in when I'm actually thinking about it...in this instance, being that my name was the subject of my post, when i got to it i capitalized it.

failing to capitalize yours was not intentional

quote:

(Ó) Prunty, Pronty: Ó Proinntigh (proinnteach, bestower, generous person).

B'fhéidir é, ach is ionann "proinnteach" agus "dining hall"!

Tá "bronntach" (var. "pronntach") ann, áfach, ón mbriathar "bronn" = "bestow".

Ceist amháin, ós ag caint ar ainmneacha atá muid, a Antaine: cén fáth ar scríobh tú m'ainm le 'd' beag agus do cheannsa le 'A' mór?

b'fhéidir "Freudian slip?" just kidding.

Tháinig athar clann Brontë as Uladh.

Tháinig athar Gabriel Rosenstock ón nGearmáin.

Is fearr, dar liomsa, cloí le sloinne amhain i ngach teanga.