Anglicised names vs Irish names in family trees

[california dreamin]

I have added her to my tree with the version of the name she chose to use which was Cullinan. In my FH notes and other FH documents for this family I have outlined the other name.

And, Holly and Hollywood are indeed the anglicised version of this name. Many years after my own discovery I even found a reference in a coloniser's document which confirmed my findings. Redemption!

CD

[aghadowey]

Despite this, all the official records (birth, marriage and death, Census' etc) record her with an anglicised version of her name (ie. Bridget/Brigid McGinely). The same can be seen for her parents (who were illiterate).
I'm beginning to wonder if I should record these ancestors in my tree using their Irish names as opposed to the anglicised versions?

You really do need to record them under both versions. Other relatives might know them as the Irish version but you need to know the Anglicised one as well to search in records. For examples, a cousin writing to someone might mention Brigid which will cause confusion if you only list her as Bridget but a school record might show her as Bridget.

Why do Irish names need to be "translated"?

See my comment above and other replies.

Btw Hollywood is a totally different name not an angliscized version

As california dreamin has explained, Hollywood and Holly are the recognised 'English' versions of Cullinan. Many other Irish names have similar stories and it's not uncommon for different relatives use different versions of the surname.

[Wexflyer]

Why do Irish names need to be "translated"?

See my comment above and other replies.

I think we are getting at different things.

When I was in Oxford, I had an Italian friend and colleague by the name of Malacarne. Somehow nobody seemed to think that his surname needed translating to Badmeat.

But for some reason, people seem to think that Irish names do need to be translated.

[brigidmac]

I wonder if the term anglicised also has different meanings.

I studied linguistics and in that context the meaning is to make the word more English sounding

Translating the meaning would be something different and choosing a different name for life in a different country would be yet another thing.

Personally I don't consider WINDSOR  an anglicism of Saxe-Coberg-Gotha

I'm not so  sure about my half great uncle who changed his surname from BENJAMIN to BENNETT  it has the same first letter but was a name chosen from a street name .

I'd like to know more about how HOLLY + HOLLYWOOD became English versions of CULLINAN 

I've heard of Irish families changing surnames sometimes to wife or mother's maiden name which was to do with having to conceal their identity.

[aghadowey]

But for some reason, people seem to think that Irish names do need to be translated.

In the case of KitHannay's family the point is that the family were also known by Anglicised forms of their name. Therefore, it's not really a matter of translating the names from Irish into an 'English' version but more a matter of recording the names that were they were known by in official records, etc.

I'd like to know more about how HOLLY + HOLLYWOOD became English versions of CULLINAN

Quite simple really. "Cullinan is a surname of Irish origin. It is derived from the Gaelic name Ó Cuileannáin, which is thought to be a diminutive form of 'cuileann,' meaning Holly tree. The literal English translation of the name would be 'the descendant of the little Holly.' " Thus Holly and Hollywood are the anglicised versions of Cullinan.

[cwatterson]

I think it’s pretty important to record and include the actual family names the individuals used day to day (as Gaeilge). Of course the “official” recorded version will have to be too, but those aren’t even always consistent. I mean even where the family spoke English and only used an Anglicised version it could vary in spelling even by quite a lot at the whim of the recording official when the individuals had no literacy.

John O’Hart of “Irish Pedigrees” has a tale in his Last Princes of Tara of how his elder brother the priest set the model for the family to use the version “Hart” or “Harte” under the theory that the “O” added too much distinction!! In any case he himself went by John Hart at the time of his Associate in Arts from Queens, and by John Harte through his organising with the teachers and publishing “ The duties and obligations of every system of primary education in Ireland : or, the Irish teachers' grievances” and stint as first secretary of what became the INTO. Indeed though I thought he learnt Irish as part of the Gaelic revival given his involvement in such societies, he says clearly that he spoke most, prayed always and thought in Irish when he was a child. His mother refused to speak English on principle (see ainm.ie bio in Irish ), so rather than Nora Kilroy before she married she was Nóra Nic Giolla Ruaidh.

[Erato]

A lot of what happened to Irish names was not translation but, rather, the imposition of an Anglicized spelling which may or may not approximate the correct Irish pronunciation of the name.  On the other hand, the names of Native American people were routinely translated into English words because there was no standardized spelling in the native languages and the names were often unpronouncable to English-speaking Americans or even to other indigenous people.

https://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/Mss/BCIM/BCIM-SC1-NAsurnames.pdf

[aghadowey]

Working the other way, I have relatives whose children were captured in raids by Native American Indians in earlier 1700s who were given Indian names- Asaundugooton (Adonijah), Tookaowras (Silas) who had children Kaniaronkas "she gathers snakes" Aronhiowonen "great sky" and others, and Timothy who was re-named Oughrsorengoughton "he passes through the year" and eventually became a Chief.
Naturally I have recorded them in my notes under both names.