ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1132
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1132
************************************

30 Jul 1998
From: Braddon Giles 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us for our
opinion of the name <Goddarde of Saint Iohne>, as a Scottish name for
the period 1250 to 1400. Here is what we found.

In your period, there were several cultures and languages in Scotland.
The two most common languages were Gaelic, which is the same as spoken
in Ireland at this time, and Scots, which was spoken mostly in the
Lowlands and is closely related to contemporary English. There was also
a Scoto-Norman culture during the 12th and 13th centuries. Your name is
not Gaelic, it is Scots. 

We found <William Godarde> in 1320 and <Robert filius Godardi> in 1262.
The name is of Old German origin, introduced to Britain from the Normans
after the Conquest. However, we found no example of <Goddarde> with a
double <d>, and in the period you are interested in, we believe that the
different spelling represents a different pronunciation. Therefore we
don't think that <dd> is a correct spelling variant of this name [1,2].
 
Many places in Scotland in your period were named after saints. We found
the name <Thomas de St. Philibert> recorded in 1277, and a place called
<Sanct Johnestown> at least as early 1502. The spelling <saint> was not
standardized by 1400, and was comparatively uncommon in that form. Here
are some examples from an English Roll of Arms c.1300: <de Seynt Johan>,
<de Seint Johan>, <de Seint John>, <de Seint Jon>, <de Saint Johan>, <de
Sein Joan>, <de Seyn Johan>, <de Sein Johan>, <de Sent Johan>, <de Seynt
Jan>, <de Seint Jan> and <de Saincte Johan>. The first two seem to be
the most common, and in this manuscript the <Saint> and <Saincte> forms
occur only once. While we have not found an example of <Saint Iohne>, we
feel that the spelling is entirely plausible [2,3,4].

In the time you are interested in <I> and <J> were just different ways
of writing the same letter. Whichever way the letter was written, it was
pronounced like the <j> in <judge>. We recommend <J> because it's
likelier to elicit the correct pronunciation from people reading your
name, however either form would be authentic historically.

To summarize, we feel that <Godarde de Seynt Johne> is a fine name 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval d'Espas Nord,
Alan Fairfax, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Walraven van Nijmegen and AElfwynn
aet Gyrwum.

For the Academy,

Giles Leabrook.


[1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian
Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).

[2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning
and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986).

[3] Brault, Gerald J., _The Rolls of Arms of Edward I_, Aspilogia III, 2
vols. (London: Boydell Press, 1997).

[4] Browning, Robert, _A History of Golf_, (London: J. M. Dent & Sons,
1955).