ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1251 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1251 ************************************ 17 Sep 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is the Scottish equivalent of or , and whether it means "beloved". We found no evidence that or was used in Scotland in period. In fact, we could not find any mention of as a name in any of our references. If you can tell us where you found these names and why you think they are Scottish, we may be able to find more information. Could you perhaps have been thinking of the Irish woman's name ? This is a modern Irish name, often equated with the unrelated English name . We believe was not used in period, though a related name was used at some times [10, 11]. (The slash in the name represents an accent on the preceding letter.) Here's what we found regarding the other names you asked about and some related names. (note the spelling) and are early medieval French names. We found an example of recorded before 1080 and a who was born in 1135. These names derive from a Frankish root , which doesn't mean anything like "beloved" [1, 2]. Neither of these names appears in our later-period French sources. By the late Middle Ages, we expect that they would have been confused with the word "beautiful, handsome", which was also used as a given name. In late 13th century Paris, we find the feminine name as well as the diminutive forms , and the masculine [3]. The feminine equivalent of that last example would be , and although we don't find it in our references, we think it is a reasonable possibility in 13th century French. The final in that name would have been pronounced in this period [4]. is a French and English name which probably originated in Spain as , taken from the word for "white". was fairly common in France from the 13th century to the 15th century, and we believe it continued in use to modern times [3, 5, 6, 7]. The name was imported to England in the early 13th century and remained in use past the end of our period [8, 9]. We do not know if it was used in Scotland; we haven't found an example, but we can't rule it out. is simply the word used as a name [12]. We found an example of in England in 1230 [13]. The name may have dropped out of use and been re-invented in modern times. 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Thorfinn Hrolfsson, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Sep 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). [2] _The Book of saints : a dictionary of servants of God canonized by the Catholic Church_, compiled by the Benedictine monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, 6th ed. (London: A&C Black, 1989, 0-7136-3006-X). [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 [4] Einhorn, E., _Old French: A Concise Handbook_ (London & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974). [5] Arval Benicoeur, "French Names from Two Thirteenth Century Chronicles" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/crusades/ [6] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). [7] Cateline de la Mor, "Names from Fourteenth Century Foix" (SCA: Trimarian Known World Heraldic Symposium, AS XXIX; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/foix.html [8] Selten, Bo, _The Anglo-Saxon Heritage in Middle English Personal Names_, Volumes 1 & 2. (Lund, Sweden: Royal Society of Letters at Lund, 1979), s.n. Leofgi(e)fu. [9] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Blanche. [10] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), p.33. [11] O/ Riain, Pa/draig, ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Sanctorum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1985), s.n. Moninne. [12] Dunkling, Leslie and William Gosling, _The New American Dictionary of First Names_ (New York: Signet Books, 1983), s.n. Blythe. [13] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -