ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1057 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1057 ************************************ 6 Jul 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about , which you want to use as a 14th or early 15th century Italian feminine name. Here is what we have found. As you wrote, is the name of two characters in Roman mythology, both distinctly super-human [1]. We have found no evidence that this name was used by people at any time before the late 20th century. In fact, we could not find anyone called anywhere except in the Society! Our sources on period Greek names are admittedly slim, but without some evidence that the name was used in period, we recommend that you avoid it. If you want to consider other given names, you can find several lists of period Italian feminine names on the web at http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/romance.html#italian is probably an American contraction of , a common Italian surname that originally meant "from the mountain" [2]. It is pronounced \day lah MON-tay\. We believe it would be appropriate for your persona. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Pedro de Alcazar, Charles O'Connor, and Evan de Collaureo. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 6 Jul 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Lemprie\re, John, _Classical Dictionary of Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors_ (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978). Two characters in Greco-Roman mythology are mentioned: The woman who fed Jupiter (and whose sister was Melissa, the discoverer of bee-keeping, for whom bees are named in Greek) and a sibyl who assisted the Roman king Tarquin. Both women are, in our opinion, clearly super-human. The SCA College of Arms has had a mixed opinion of this name over the years. It has been registered a couple times and rejected at least a couple times. It was registered 8/79 (Amalthea Farstar) and 4/92 (Jamie Amalthea Rowan). The 1992 registration cited Lempriere and observed that the character was human. Returns in 5/88 (Tamarra Amalthea de Romany) and 11/94 (Amalthea bat Amal) considered the same evidence and decided that the mythological character was super-human, and that evidence was needed that the name was used by humans in period. Since Laurel returned the name in the most recent case, the College would normally expect further evidence before accepting the name. [2] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -