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Mael does mean bald and by extension someone with a tonsure, a religious devotee or disciple, and yes the Gaels did use Mael as a prefix to saints names so e.g. instead of giving their child the potentially blasphemous name of Colm or Columba, they called him Malcolm, i.e. devotee of Columba.

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However I can't think of any female names which have this prefix, and as far as I know a 'bald' devotee could only be male - nuns doen't have tonsures. I find it unlikely that the Irish would have associated the female name Molly with Mael.

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But that's just my opinion I'm in no way an expert.

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“Man can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable” - Oscar Wilde

This message was edited 9/14/2009, 12:31 PM