ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1180
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1180
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From: "S Friedemann" 
15 Aug 1998

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for help documenting the word <persistent> before the 17th
century, specifically for use in the name <Adam the Persistent> or <Adam
Persistent>, in any language.  Here is the information we have found.

Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We
try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical
cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to
support submissions to the College of Arms, but that it not our goal and our
results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal
is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you.

While the root <persist> was used in 16th century English, the word
<persistent> was first used in the 19th century [1].  It would therefore not
be appropriate in a pre-17th century name.  The French cognate <persistant>
is noted in 1321, [2] but we have no evidence that it was used as part of a
surname at any time in period.

Since you told one of our members that you wanted an authentic name, we
thought you might be interested in bynames with similar meanings.
<Standefast> 1304 and <Stedefast> 1338 do not have exactly the same meaning
as <persistent> [3], but the general concept is similar.  <Adam> would be
appropriate to use with these bynames in this period; in fact, our reference
for <Standefast> was a man named <Adam Standefast> [3].  <Adam Standefast>
or <Adam Stedefast> are both authentic English names.

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 Talan
Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant
Glasvryn.

For the Academy,
--Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael
     August 15, 1998

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References:

[1] --, _The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary_ (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1973).

[2] Robert, Paul, _Le Petit Robert 1: Dictionnaire alphabe/tique et
analogique de la langue franc,ais_ (Paris: Le Robert, 1985).

[3] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK
Gleerup, date unknown).