ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1063
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1063
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From: 
3 Jul 1998


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You inquired about masculine German names in the early 14th century, in
particular about the given name <Dimarus> and the bynames <Gottesfurchtig>
meaning "God fearer" and <Gottshtalk> meaning "God servant". 
 
The name <Dimarus> is a Latinized variant of the Old German <Ditmar> [1]. 
It was apparently a reasonably common name in eastern Germany and was used
as far west as the Low Countries [2].  We found the following spellings
for your period [3]:

  Dietmar, Ditmarus, Dithmar, Timo

We found nothing like <Gottesfurchtig>, and <Gottshtalk> appears to be an
incorrect spelling.  <Gottschalk> was a popular given name from the
introduction of Christianity [4].  You could certainly use it, though in a
name such as <Dietmar Gottschalk>, it would mean that the name of your
father was <Gottschalk>, rather than describing you.  We found
[4,5,6,7,8]: 

  <Gotschalch>             13th c.
  <Gotschalg>              13th c.
  <Conr. Godescalci>       1210
  <Godscalcus>             1200-1250
  <Gotscalcus>             1250-1300
  <W. Gotschalk>           1317 
  <Henslinus Gotsalk>      1375
  <Gottschalk Eschenbruck> 1470

If you would prefer a byname meaning "servant of God", we found <Godes>
used in the Low Countries and westernmost Germany [2].  

<Dimarus Godescalci>, meaning "Ditmar son of Gotschalk" would be a fine
Latin documentary form, and <Ditmar Gotschalk> would be the most likely
German spelling.  You could also use <Dimarus Godes>, meaning "Dimarus,
servant of God".
 
We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.
Talan Gwynek and Arval Benicouer contributed to this letter. 

In service,
--Walraven van Nijmegen
Academy of S. Gabriel

[1] Talan Gwynek, _German Given Names 1200-1250_ (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997)
    http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/germ13/

[2] C. Tavernier-Vereecken, _Gentse Naamkunde van ca. 1000 tot 1253_
    (Belgisch Interuniv. Centrum voor Neerlandistiek, 1968) 

[3] Talan Gwynek, _Medieval German Given Names from Silesia_ (WWW: SCA,
    Inc., 1998)
    http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/bahlow_v.htm

[4] Hans Bahlow, _Mittlehochdeutches Namenbuch nach schlesischen Quellen_
    (Neustadt (an der Aisch): Degener, 1975)

[5] Josef Karlmann Brechenmacher, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen
    Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn: C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960)

[6] Adolf Socin, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch: Nach oberrheinischen 
    Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Hildesheim: Georg Olms
    Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966)

[7] Roland Mulch, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum
    Namenmaterial aus arnsburger Urkunden vom 13.-16. Jahrhundert
    (Darmstadt & Marburg, 1974)

[8] Ernst Schwarz, _Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus vorhussitischer
    Zeit_ (Koeln: Blehlau Verlag, 1957)