ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1353 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1353 ************************************ 21 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether , and a couple other variations are appropriate names for an Italian woman in the 15th or 16th century. This letter is a brief answer to your question. , , and are fine names for your period; all three are recorded in use in Florence in the 15th century. is actually not a very common name; was a more common spelling [1, 2]. The surname is also recorded in 15th century Florence [3], so an appropriate combination of these names will fit that period very well. We believe that a woman of the 15th century is most likely to have used one given name and to have been known as her father's daughter. is exactly the sort of name we'd expect. In the 16th century, we believe that a woman might have used as modern-style surname, like . Double given names were more common in the 16th century -- though still not the norm -- so might also be possible. We don't think that is a likely combination at any time, since the double given name is unlikely in the period when the patronymic byname (surname that identifies your father) was used. I hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 21 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/catasto [2] Rhian Lyth, "Italian Personal Names", in Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, _Caidan Heraldic Symposium and Scribe's Conclave_, 1989, vol. I, p. 107 (SCA: Los Angeles, 1989). Republished as "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/italian.html [3] Herlihy, David and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, "Census and Property Survey of Florentine Domains in the Province of Tuscany, 1427-1480", Machine readable data file. Online Catasto of 1427 Version 1.1. Online Florentine Renaissance Resources: Brown University, Providence, R.I., 1996. Specifically "Family Names Appearing in the Catasto of 1427". http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/catasto/family_names.html