ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1213 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1213 ************************************ From: "Rachel Cates " 29 Sep 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to use or , as a feminine German name of the early Renaissance. Here is the information we've found: The Swedish Saint lived from 1303-1373, and was canonized in 1391[1]. Her name didn't become popular in Germany until the 1800's.[3] We have not found any examples of or any related name in Germany in the time period you specified. We therefore recommend against using for a late-period German name. The cult of the Irish Saint flourished in Germany in the 8th and 9th centuries.[3] It is possible that the name was used in some form like . However we have not found evidence that this name was used, and it is very unlikely that it persisted for 500 years without leaving some record. We also recommend against using this name. If you'd like to consider some other given names, we have a couple lists of names appropriate to your period. You can find "15th Century German Women's Names" and "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" on the web at: http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/german15f.html and http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/bahlow/ Your surname choices are fine for your period. In Germany as in most of Europe, many surnames came from given names. Originally, these surnames were "patronymic" i.e. based on the bearer's father's name and changing with each generation. Eventually surnames came to be inherited in the modern manner. was originally a pet form of the given name . We found it used as a surname in 1475[2]. , as you spelled the name in your letter, is not a correct spelling. The modern spelling is . The order of the and is important as they are pronounced very differently. The most common spelling in your period is ; we found an example in 1317. We also found the surname in 1367, which shows that the spelling could have existed in your period. However is probably the most common form[2]. We hope that this letter has been useful to you. Please do not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Additional research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Ethini ingen Cormacc References: [1] Withycombe, E.G,_The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. "Bridget" [2] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.nn. Frenz(el), Friedrich, Friedricher. [3] Bahlow, Hans, _Unsere Vornamen im Wandel der Jahrhunderte_, Vol. 4 in the series _Grundriss der Genealogie_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn: C. A. Starke Verlag, 1965).