A poll!

[msmcknittington]

Which name do you guys prefer as a replacement for Lady Maisry's name? Given that Maisry appears to be from the 18th century and Scottish, I don't want to use it in 13th century Wales.

I'd really prefer it if I could find something that still sounded pretty but actually meant "horrible person with a black heart", but girls don't tend to get named things like that.

So, the two choices I've discovered are sound-alikes, but Welsh. They might not be 13th century or even medieval, but they're a heck of a lot closer than Maisry and also avoid that whole "Isn't that a ballad?" thing.

Mairwen -- Combination of Welsh form of Mary (Mair) with gwen, which means "white, fair, blessed". I guess it could mean anything from "blessed virgin" to "white sea of bitterness", so there's a range of meanings there.

Meinwen -- Means "slender and white", from the Welsh main, meaning "slender", and gwen. I'm sort of imagining Lady not-Maisry as a sort of cross between Lady Macbeth and Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. Ambitious and social climbing, but tall and slender and fair. Also a mega-bitch.

[Poll #1298278]

Comments

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

..which is totally made up, but hey...

[myladyswardrobe.livejournal.com]

I like Mairwen - it flows better than the second. But I have also added another: Meinir which means Maiden. Its my middle name and is pronounced "my-nee-ir".

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

...Maybe it's just me but Mairwen sounds really close to the masculine (modern) name Marwan/Marwen/Marwin. (I might just be pronouncing it wrong in my head too.) Given the likely audience, I'd say go with something different....

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

I was just going to suggest asking Bess... I see she beat me to it! Bess knows a thing or five about Welsh stuff, seeing as she was born there... ;)