ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1258
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1258
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26 Aug 1998
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for information about the biblical name <Demaris> or <Damaris>.
This letter is a brief answer to your question.

The Academy tries to help people to choose names to suit a particular time
and place in history.  Since you didn't tell us anything about the persona
that goes with the name, we can't do that for you.  We can give you some
general information about the name and when and where it was used, and
point you to some sources where you can learn more about names from that
period.  

If your aim is to find documentation for a name so that you can register it
with the SCA College of Arms, we may or may not be able to help you.
Documenting submissions isn't our focus: We want to help you to choose and
use a name that fits the historical culture you are re-creating.  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.


The name <Damaris> appeared in Acts 17:34 of the King James Version.
Damaris is an Athenian Jewish woman, a follower of Paul.  The name may be
an incorrect rendering of the Greek <Damalis> "a calf".  As far as we know,
this name was not used in period Europe until it was adopted by English
Puritans in the 17th century.  The earliest examples we find are in Gedney,
Lincolnshire, in 1597 and 1620 [1].  Unless you want your persona to be a
very late-period Puritan, we recommend that you choose a different name.


I hope this brief letter has been useful.  Please write us again if you
have any questions or would like more information on medieval Irish names.
I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Walraven van
Nijmegen and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  26 Aug 1998


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References

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

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