ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1325 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1325 ************************************ 16 Nov 1998 From: Jodi McMaster Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked about the possibility of using or as a household name for an English group in the mid-14th century. You also noted you had heard that or was an Old English term for the North Star. We are not aware of any specific use of to indicate the North Star, but it often appears as a shortened form of in English placenames by the time you mention. Here are some examples of these names along with the year in which they were found [1, 2]: Norham 1085 Norwell 1167 Norwude 1176 Norrigge 1334 Norton 1334 Therefore, the use of a place name beginning with seems appropriate for 14th century England. The use of <-bridge> for the second part of a name is fine, but this spelling does not appear until much later. Several spellings are found in 14th century placenames, with different ones common in different parts of England. The most common and most widespread was <-brigge>. <-brugge> was found southwest of a line drawn between Kent and Chester; <-bregge> was the least common, and was found only in Essex and Kent. Here are a few examples [2]: Stapelbrigg' (Dorset) Stanbregg' (Essex) Hardebrigge (Hampshire) Fambrege (Essex) Wodebrigg' (Suffolk) Longhebregge (Kent) Troubrigge (Wiltshire) Kyngesbrugge (Devon) Penebrugg' (Hereford) Langebrugg' (Sussex) As a result, the most likely combination for a placename for the period you're interested is . Whether is an appropriate name for your household depends on what you are trying to re-create. If you think of yourselves as a village then it's a perfect name. If you think of yourselves as the family and retainers of a minor landholder, it could also be appropriate: could be the name of the lands or manor. We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Elsbeth Roth, Zenobia Naphtali, and Margaret Makafee contributed comments and/or research for this letter. For the Academy, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum __________________ References: [1] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991). [2] Robin E. Glasscock, _The Lay Subsidy of 1334_ (London: Oxford University Press, 1975).