ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1061
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1061
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29 Jul 1998
From: Jodi McMaster 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked about the name "Giselle" as a German feminine name at any time
during the SCA period.

The name "Giselle," commonly heard now as \ji-ZEL\ (with the "j" as in
"judge") or \zhi-ZELL\, is French.  This is the more common spelling, 
although up to the 13th century was also spelled with only one "l."

Germanic names were ordinarily formed with two elements, a prototheme
(the first half) and a deuterotheme (the second half).  "Gisal-" was
originally a prototheme which developed into a pet name [1]. We found
the following forms, with dates beside each spelling as well as
a pronunciation [1,2,3,4].  All of those forms starting with a "g"
have a hard "g" sound, as in "geese":

        Kisala  907             \KEE-sa-la\
        Gysla   early 9th c.    \GEES-la\ 
        Gizela  1025            \GEE-zeh-la\
        Gisla   early 9th c., 1030 \GEES-la\
        Guisla  1035            \GEES-la\
        Gisela  1250-1300       \GEES-eh-la\
        Gysele  14th c.         \GEES-eh-la\
        Gy{sz}el 15th c.        \GEES-zel\ [5]

You will need a byname or surname to go along with whichever first name
you choose. Once you've decided on your culture and time period, we'll
be glad to help you find one to match your first name.

We hope this letter has been helpful.  Please write us again if any part
of it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  Arval Benicoeur,
Walraven van Nijmegen, Lindorm Eriksson, Walraven van Nijmegen, Jorge el
Cantador, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Blaise de Cormeilles, and
Talan Gwynek contributed comments and/or research for this letter.

For the Academy,

   AElfwyn aet Gyrwum
__________________

References:

[1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de
l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, I:110 (Paris: Centre National
de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). 

[2] Nicolaa de Bracton, _Early Germanic Names from Primary Sources_
    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5145/german.html

[3] Talan Gwynek, _15th-Century German Women's Names_
    http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/german15f.html

[4] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum
Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_
(Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and
the Historischen Kommission fu:r Hessen, 1974).

[5] The {sz} represents the letter in German that looks like the Greek
letter "beta" and is often modernly transliterated as a double "s."