ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1021 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1021 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: 29 Jun 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us looking for the origin and period use of the feminine name , particularly in the latter part of the 14th century. You said that you are currently known as , in reference to your red hair. We found two instances of the name in England in the 17th century, but otherwise it was not found as a given name until the 19th century Queen Victoria, actually christened , who was named after her German mother, [1]. The related name appears in 16th century England [2]. In short, this does not appear to be a likely name in England before modern times; neither could we find it in Gaelic. In continental Europe, the related maculine name was one of the most common names in Christian inscriptions of the Roman Empire [2]. Many early martyrs and several popes bore the name. was correspondingly common for women in early Christian inscriptions, and there was a 3rd C Roman martyr of this name. This saint's name persisted in Italy as [1,3] and in France as [1,4]. The spelling , appears in 15th century Florence [5], and if you want to be "Victoria the Red", then or would be fine in Italian. We found many citations of women named or in various spellings in Poland [6], and if you are interested in a Polish name, we can help you find an appropriate byname. We found: Victora 1439, 1498 Victorca 1397 Victoria 1265, 1398, 1461, 1492 Wictoria 1398 Wiktoryja 1265-1398 Victorzia 1391, 1405, 1426 Wictorzia 1392 Wiktorzya 1398 Wiktorzyja 1265-1398 On the other hand, if you are more interested in using the Gaelic byname than keeping , you could choose a Gaelic given name. One amusing possibility is the Irish feminine name , pronounced approximately \BOO-ah-nitch\ [7]; the root means "victory". Your byname is almost right, but in period Gaelic, the definite article was not used in personal names this way [8]. would be a fine Gaelic name for your period. For other ideas in choosing a Gaelic name, try the sources listed online in our library at: http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/#ireland We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] E.G. Withycombe, _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) [2] Leslie Dunkling & William Gosling, _The New American Dictionary of First Names_ (New York, Signet Books, 1983) [3] Emidio De Felice, _Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani_, (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978) [4] Albert Dauzat, _Dictionnaire Etymologique de Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987) [5] Arval Benicoeur, _Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence 0f 1427. (WWW: Josh Mittleman, 1998) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/catasto/ [6] Taszycki, Witold, _Slownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, 6 vols. (Wroclaw: Zaklad Norodowy Imienia Ossolin'skich Wydawnictwo Polskeij Akademii Nauk, 1965-1982) see: Vol.6 p.94 [s.n. Wiktora, Wiktorka, Wiktoryna, Wiktorzyja, & Wiktorzyjana] [7] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990) p.39 Although the only citation given of this particular name is from literature (the Finn tales), the root "Bu/adh-" appears in several clearly historical masculine names (eg., "Bu/adhach", "Bu/adhacha/n"). While choosing the names of literary characters should be done with caution, the overall pattern in the Finn tales (as opposed to the Tain or the Book of Invasions) is for the use of names that can be shown to be in common use in the early medieval period. [8] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, _Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's "Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae"_ (WWW: Heather Rose Jones) http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 26 Feb 2005: Corrected the author's name in note [2].