Cormac

Cormac
Gender	Masculine
Language(s)	English, Irish
Origin
Language(s)	Irish
Word/Name	Gaelic
Meaning	charioteer, raven, son of defilement
Other names
Derivative(s)	Kormákr, Corbmac

Cormac is a masculine given name in the Irish and English languages. The name is ancient in the Irish Gaelic language, but its exact meaning and derivation remain unclear.^[1] The name is also seen in the rendered Old Norse as Kormákr.

Mac is Gaelic for "son of," and can be sued as either a prefix or a suffix. The derivation of "cor" is not so clear. The most popular speculation is that it is from "corb," the old Gaelic for wheel, perhaps designating some one who fought in a cart or chariot as male names are often derived from order of battle. (For instance "Gary, Garth, etc., from "gar" for "spear.") However, some etymologies suggest it derives from the old Gaelic for "raven", a bird laden with mystical meaning for the Celts, and often used to mean "legend" or "legendary".^{[citation needed]} Similarly, it might refer specifically to Corb, one of the legendary Fomorians of Irish mythology. In recent years an etymological back formation has been popularized that suggests it means "son of corruption" or "son of defilement" from another Gaelic word also pronounced "corb" which meant "something is not right in the council" and referring specifically to political treachery or dishonesty, but this "corb" antedates the usage of the names Cormac by several centuries, and thus could not be related to the name. Today the name is typically listed in baby names books as meaning "raven" or "legend" or sometimes as "charioteer".

People with the name

Cormac

• Cormac Mac Airt, semi-historical High King of Ireland, Ruler of Tara ca. 227-266
• Cormac Cond Longas, exiled prince of Ulster from Irish mythology
• Cormac mac Cuilennáin, ninth-century bishop and king
• Cormac of Dunkeld ca. 1114-1131, Bishop of Dunkeld
• Cormac Mac Carthaigh, Bishop and King of Cashel, ? -1388
• Cormac McCarthy, American novelist
• Cormac Breslin, Irish politician
• Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster
• Cormac Fahey, Irish legend and creator of the Mack Attack

Kormákr

• Kormákr Ögmundarson the skald, hero of Kormáks saga

See also

• List of Irish-language given names
• Cormack (disambiguation)

References

1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 64, 345, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1 

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