ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1292 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1292 ************************************ 17 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a 10th century Polabian name equivalent to . Here is what we have found. The name was recorded in 1235; this Latin form represents the Old Polabian or Pomeranian name [1], which is cognate to the Polish name . is very unlikely to have been used by a 10th century Slav. It derives from a Roman family name and was popularized among the Slavs by Saint Sergius of Radonezh (c.1314-92) [2]. We do not find an earlier example of the name in any Slavic language. In Russian, for example, the earliest example we can find is also 14th century [3]. The modern city of , near Szczecin in northwestern Poland, certainly existed in the Middle Ages [4]. Unfortunately, we do not know how the name might have been spelled in the 10th century or how it would have been used in a personal name. Names in your period were simpler than later-period and modern Slavic names. The three-part construction -- given name, patronymic, surname -- didn't come into use until several centuries after your period. In Russia, for example, they began to be used in the mid-15th century [3]. In your period, a man would probably have been known simply by his given name; at most, we believe he'd have been known as his father's son. The earliest examples we have of names from your region seem to have the form , where the father's given name appears without any modification (i.e. no suffix like <-vich>). Our best suggestion, therefore, is that you should choose a name for your father and use it as a byname (descriptive surname). We couldn't find any names from your period that sound much like ; here are three that are vaguely similar. The examples are from German records; the name in parentheses is a reconstructed spelling of the Slavic name that is used as a surname [1]. We believe that each example is a simple patronymic; i.e. the first example means "Johannes son of Sirdomil". Johannes Scerdemile, 1307 (Sirdomil) Tymo Syrikes, 1382 (Sirik or Sirek) Peter Cyrteschlaff, 1330 (Siroslav) You also asked if we could find a translation of the title "lord" appropriate to your period. Your guess is likely to be correct. Polish and Upper Sorbian both use , and the same word was found in slightly varying forms in most Slavic languages [1]. 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 Talan Gwynek and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Schlimpert, Gerhard, _Slawische Personennamen in mittelalterlichen Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte_ (Berlin : Akademie-Verlag, 1978), s.nn. Sv{ev}cenovic, Pani{sv}, Sirdomil, Sir-k, Siroslav. [2] Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges, _A Dictionary of First Names_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1990), s.n. Sergei. Farmer, David Hugh, _The Oxford Dictionary of Saints_, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), under Sergius of Radonezh. [3] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ [4] Bethel, John P., ed., _Webster's Geographical Dictionary_ (Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1969).