ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1361 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1361 ************************************ From: Spence Mabry 14 Dec 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for advice on whether or not would be a probable name for a man living between the early 12th to late 16th centuries in Portugal. Here is what we found. is a fine Portuguese name for this time period. [1,2] We did find it spelled several ways, including: (from the 14th and 15th centuries) Affonso Afonso Affonsso Afomsso (from the 16th century) Affonso Afomso Afonso is a Portuguese place-name that appears in locative bynames (that is, nicknames indicating place of origin) as early as the late 14th century and continued in use through the end of our period. In these bynames it appears with the preposition "of", which becomes or before a vowel. Thus, in the late 14th century we find , and in the 16th century, . [3, 4] is more problematic. The only example of the given name that we found in period Iberia is from late 15th century Spain [3]. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of overlap between Spanish given names and Portuguese given names, so it is plausible that a Portuguese man could have been named . Therefore, (pronounced \ah-leh-SHAHN-dray ah FON-so dahl-MEH-dah\) is a plausible name for a Portuguese man living towards the end of your time period. (pronounced \ah-FON-so dahl-MEH-dah\) would be an excellent name for a Portuguese man living anytime from the early 12th to the 16th century. 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, Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, Arval d'Espas Nord and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Ceatta o Gulcleth 12/14/98 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Juliana de Luna, "Portuguese Names 1350-1450" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/juliana/portuguese/ [2] Ford, J. D. M. _Letters of John III, King of Portugal, 1521-1557: the Portuguese text edited with an introduction by J.D.M. Ford_ (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931). [3] De La Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre, eds., _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca "Reyes Cato/licos", 1956). [4] Moser, Gerald M. 'Portuguese Family Names', Names, Vol. VIII, No. March 1960, pp. 30-52.