ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1022
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1022
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From: "S Friedemann"
9 Jun 1998
Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You were interested in feminine English names starting with "P" that were
used between 1250 and 1500, and wanted to have a persona that mixed English,
Irish, and Norse, to reflect your modern background. You also wanted to
know how family relationships were shown in names. Here is the information
we have found.
We found the following names starting with
used between 1250 and 1450.
[1] Any of these would be appropriate for your time and persona.
Parnell, Paronel, Paveye, Pechel, Penne, Pernel, Peronele,
Peronell, Peronelle, Peryna, Petronell, Peronelle, Peryna,
Petronella, Petronill, Petronilla, Petronille, Petronyl, Philomena,
Philota, Pipa, Placencia, Plesance, Plesancia, Plesantia,
Pogge, Preciosa, Precious, Purnele and Pypa.
Combining English, Irish, and Norse into one persona would be rather
difficult; while the English and the Irish had contact, the English and the
Norse had contact, and the Norse and the Irish had contact, all three
cultures did not relate with one another. We suggest either an Anglo-Irish
persona or an Anglo-Scottish persona, or you could have a northern English
persona with a surname of Scandinavian origin. For example, the surname
, recorded in 1327 [2], derives from the Norse given name
. would be an excellent name for a woman
living in northern England early in your period. It would have been
understood to mean "Parnell, daughter of Thurkild."
In English contexts, your children would primarily be known as you or your
husband's children, by using either of your names as a byname, unmodified,
i.e., , "Pipa, daughter of Parnell." You could use your
husband's byname or surname to show your relationship to him; this was more
common in later period. In early period, it's more likely that you'd use
the same byname that you had before marriage. Particularly if you were of a
noble family in the first couple centuries of your period, you could all be
known by the name of your estate, .
We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not
hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further
questions. Additional research and commentary on this letter was provided
by Arval Benicoeur, Charles O'Connor, and Modar Neznanich.
For the Academy,
Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael
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References:
[1] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English
Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997)
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/.
[2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995)