Sorley and Somerled are masculine given names in the English language, Anglicizations of Scottish Gaelic Somhairle and Norse Sumarlidi.
Sorley is an Anglicised form of Somhairle (modern Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈs̪o.ərˠlə]), a name mutual to both the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages, which means "summer wanderer". The Gaelic name is a form of the English Somerled, and both names are ultimately derived from the Old Norse Old Norse Sumarliðr. [1] A variant form of Sumarliðr is Sumarliði. [2] A variant form of Somerled is Summerlad, a name altered by folk etymology, derived from the words "summer" and "lad". [3] Somhairle is sometimes Anglicised as Samuel, [4] although these two names are etymologically unrelated (the latter being ultimately of Hebrew origin). [5]
The Old Norse personal name likely originated as a byname, meaning "summer-traveller", [6] "summer-warrior", [7] in reference to a Viking, [8] or men who took to raiding during the summer months as opposed to full-time raiders. [9] An early occurrence of the term is sumarliða [10] (sumorlida, perhaps meaning "fleet"), [11] recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 871. [12] Another early occurrence of the term is Classi Somarlidiorum, [13] meaning "fleet of the sumarliðar", [14] which is recorded in the 12th-century Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, in an account of an attack on Buchan in the mid-10th century. [15] Possibly the earliest record of the personal name occurs in a grant of land in Nottinghamshire by Edgar the Peaceful in 958. [16] Several men with the name are recorded in early Icelandic sources, such as the 10th-century Hrappr Sumarliðason, and his son Sumarliði, Icelanders said to have been of Scottish and Hebridean ancestry. [17] The first historical personage in Orkney with the name was Sumarliði Sigurðsson, Earl of Orkney, eldest son of Sigurðr digri, Earl of Orkney (d. 1014). [18]
Sorley and Somerled are masculine given names in the English language, Anglicizations of Scottish Gaelic Somhairle and Norse Sumarlidi.
Sorley is an Anglicised form of Somhairle (modern Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˈs̪o.ərˠlə]), a name mutual to both the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages, which means "summer wanderer". The Gaelic name is a form of the English Somerled, and both names are ultimately derived from the Old Norse Old Norse Sumarliðr. [1] A variant form of Sumarliðr is Sumarliði. [2] A variant form of Somerled is Summerlad, a name altered by folk etymology, derived from the words "summer" and "lad". [3] Somhairle is sometimes Anglicised as Samuel, [4] although these two names are etymologically unrelated (the latter being ultimately of Hebrew origin). [5]
The Old Norse personal name likely originated as a byname, meaning "summer-traveller", [6] "summer-warrior", [7] in reference to a Viking, [8] or men who took to raiding during the summer months as opposed to full-time raiders. [9] An early occurrence of the term is sumarliða [10] (sumorlida, perhaps meaning "fleet"), [11] recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 871. [12] Another early occurrence of the term is Classi Somarlidiorum, [13] meaning "fleet of the sumarliðar", [14] which is recorded in the 12th-century Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, in an account of an attack on Buchan in the mid-10th century. [15] Possibly the earliest record of the personal name occurs in a grant of land in Nottinghamshire by Edgar the Peaceful in 958. [16] Several men with the name are recorded in early Icelandic sources, such as the 10th-century Hrappr Sumarliðason, and his son Sumarliði, Icelanders said to have been of Scottish and Hebridean ancestry. [17] The first historical personage in Orkney with the name was Sumarliði Sigurðsson, Earl of Orkney, eldest son of Sigurðr digri, Earl of Orkney (d. 1014). [18]