ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1321 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1321 ************************************ 25 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for documentation for as a late 13th or 14th century French masculine name. Here is what we have found. We believe this name is a good choice for your son's period, though we will recommend a different spelling. was not a very common name in medieval France, but we did find a few examples. It appears in a Latin document from 1029 [1]. The name appears in troubadour poetry of the 12th or 13th century [2]. The census of Paris in 1292 records and [3]. It isn't clear whether these are men or women. Finally, the name is recorded as in Picardy (northwestern France) in the 15th century [4]. The evidence is thin, but the name does appear to have been used occasionally in various parts of France in your son's period. The surname is a modern surname; we're not sure when this spelling first appeared. We found it as in 1174 and 1384 [4, 6]. The word appears as an element of various other place names; the ways they were spelled can give us further guidance. The common spellings are , , and , with and appearing as well [5]. We didn't find a period example of the spelling . On this evidence, we recommend as a likely spelling for the south of France in your son's period, as a northern French spelling. 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, vol. 2 (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). [2] Chambers, Frank M., _Proper Names in the Lyrics of the Troubadours_ (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971). [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] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [5] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963).