ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1051 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1051 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 30 Jun 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to use the name for an English masculine persona between 1300 and 1600. Here is the information we have found. The only that we found is a character in several fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock. We have no evidence that this is an authentic period name. While we did not find , we found the similarly formed surnames of 'raven hill' 1230, 'raven wood' 1332, 'raven farm' 1348, and [1,2]. In the early part of your period, the form is more likely; toward the end, it would more often have been , without the preposition. If you would like help constructing an authentic English name, please write again and we will be happy to help. You might want to check out the following websites on English names: "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/yorkshirem.html "English Names from Pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/brasses/ "Late 16th Century English Given Names" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/eng16/ We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hestitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Jaelle of Armida, Livia Montgomery, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Teceangl Bach, and Zenobia Naphtali. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin June 30, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------ References: [1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). [2] Smith, A.H., _English Place-Name Elements_ (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1956).