Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 131

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 131

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/131

This is one of the Academy's earliest reports. We are not confident that these early reports are accurate. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on the name "Chloe Marie D'Ameden."

We did not find any documentation for "Chloe." The name was brought into English in the 1600's, when Protestants began using names from the Old and New Testaments which were not associated with saints. We found no evidence that the name had ever been used in French. The closest we found was "Cloia," a variant of "Claudia" which we found once in the 11th century.

We were also unable to document "d'Ameden". We did not find evidence that this surname was used in period France. In fact, our sources contain no reference to it at all. The closest we found is the surname Damedieu (and its variants Damidaux and Damidot), which derives from a nickname meaning "lord God".

Failing exact documentation of the name, we looked for a way to construct it according to period naming practices. The preposition "de" and its various forms appear in French surnames in two usages: with a place name (e.g. "de Rheims", equivalent to the English usage "of York") or with a given name (e.g. "d'Armand", meaning "son or daughter of Armand"). Both usages gave rise to numerous inherited surnames, so that one would not have be the daughter of Armand to be called "Darmand". Unfortunately, we were unable to find evidence that "Ameden" is either a period French place name or a period French given name. We found no French place names similar to Ameden. The most similar given name we found is "Améde/e" (in which "e/" stands for an accented "e"), a given name commonly used in the area of Savoy in the Renaissance. From that name, we could derive the surname "D'Améde/e", meaning "child of Améde/e".

It is possible that "d'Ameden" was constructed from some period place name or given name which does not appear in our sources. It is also possible that the name was invented after our period, or that it was changed so much in the intervening four centuries that its medieval roots are no longer recognizable.

The source for all the names we found was "Dictionnaire etymologique de Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France" by Albert Dauzat.

We should also note that double given names like "Chloe Marie" are a fairly late development in our period. Before the 14th century, it was quite rare for anyone in Western Europe to have a double given name. The practice was introduced into southern France sometime in the 14th century and spread slowly northward. By your period, the 16th century, it was not uncommon, though it was still not the normal practice. The most common pattern of double given names used by French women was "Marie" plus a second name, often hyphenated (e.g., Marie-Therese). The general use of double given names (and middle names, confirmation names, etc.) arose only after our period.

Removing the bend from your design to avoid conflict was a good impulse: Too many people _add_ complexity to their arms to avoid conflict, and end up with something registerable but ugly. Unfortunately, voiding the rose causes other difficulties with the arms. Voided charges are quite rare in period armory, and we have found no example of a voided rose. In fact, with only one exception, the only void charges which we know of in period armory are ordinaries, i.e. the simple, geometric charges that are the most common in period arms. We did find examples of a charge called a "lion umbrated," which depicts a lion's outline drawn "with a pencil upon the field" (quoted in "Heraldic Imagination" by Rodney Dennys.) However, this is even more unsubstantial than a voided charge. There is mention of other charges "umbrated," but we don't have any other examples--nor do we have any examples of an umbrated charge with another charge on it.

The College of Arms would not pass a "rose voided" or a "rose umbrated" without more evidence that such a charge would have been used in period. In any case, a "rose umbrated" probably won't produce the visual effect you're looking for. We would recommend using a nonvoided rose in your arms.

Arval D'Espas Nord, Walraven van Nijmege, Zenobia Naphtali, Alison MacDermot, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Pedro de Alcazar all worked on your name and arms.

We're sorry that we cannot help you document the name and arms you want. If we can be of assistance in helping you find a medieval name and arms that you would like, we would be more than happy to continue working with you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel