ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1125 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1125 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 21 Jul 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help documenting the Welsh feminine name . Here is the information we have found. Unfortunately, , or , is not name used by real people in period, regardless of the spelling. is the name of a literary character found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's work, and even there it was a misreading of an Old Welsh masculine name . The earliest examples that we found of this name in use by real people date only to the 19th century [1]. The element does appear in quite a few period Welsh names, spelled both and . Common names with this element are , , and . [1,2] 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. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Walraven van Nijmege. For the Acadmey, --Arianuia filia Catmaili July 21, 1998 ----------------------------------- References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [2] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996) URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/welsh13.html. [3] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996) URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/welsh16.html.