ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1153 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1153 ************************************ 30 Aug 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings, Here's the information we found on "Richard Gry-Lion," which you wanted to use as an English name from between 1300 and 1600. You said that you had found in the Oxford English Dictionary, and we found it there as well. However, the only citation for the word is from 1594. By 1594, almost all English people were using inherited surnames rather than nicknames. Thus, a word first found in 1594 would not have been used as a name at that time. There are specific problems with as well. The origin of the word is obscure, and there is only one citation for it in the OED. These suggest that the word is extremely rare, and in fact may never have been used outside of this one citation. Finally, the only possible origin we found derives from a Greek word meaning "the grunt of a pig." This is probably not what you're looking for, and it is not a noise that would be associated with a lion. Thus, we're virtually certain that is not a plausible historical name. The only period names we found that were close were "Lionheart" and "the Lion". You could not register in the SCA, but the nickname was not uncommon in the Middle Ages--in fact, we found an ordinary person named who lived in England in 1247, and a "Hunout son of Lionheart" in Paris in 1292 (1, 3). You could of course register . We found the epithet spelled in 1290 (2). Talan Gwynek contributed to this letter. We hope this letter has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. In service, Alan Fairfax and Arval Benicoeur Academy of S. Gabriel 30 Aug 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (1) Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Codlin. (2) Reaney, P. H., _The Origin of English Place Names_ (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960, reprint 1984), pp.262-5. (3) Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -