ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1398 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1398 ************************************ 28 Dec 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the feminine forename and the surnames and . Here is what we have found. is an Italian name, quite common in some times and places. In 13th century Perugia, for example, it was recorded as and [1]. In 15th century Florence, was one of the most common women's names [2]. It would be a fine name for an Italian persona from the 13th century onward. The Castillian Spanish form of the name is or . The comma in the name represents a cedilla, a little hook hanging down from the , marking it as a soft . By the end of our period, this was one of the most common names in Castille [3]. It is unlikely that the spelling would have been used in Castille, but some very similar forms were used in Barcelona, eastern Spain. We found these examples from 1390 [8]: Francescha texidora (weaver) Francescha vidua (widow) Franquesa vidua (widow) or is a fairly common Castillian surname, ultimately derived from a placename. An is recorded in 1390, in the late 15th century, and in the early 16th century [4, 5, 6]. Spanish locative surnames (surnames based on placenames) were also used without the preposition by the last centuries of our period [7]. We could not find the surname in our references. The modern Spanish word means "rod, stick; (nautical) yard, spar; penis". If you can tell us where you found the name, we may be able to discover more information. We found a couple similar names; if you're interested, let us know and we'll send you the details. The Spanish name we can recommend that is closest to your choice is , which would be a fine choice for 14th century Barcelona and probably for a later-period name, too. If you want a Castillian name, we suggest or . The former would be fine from the late Middle Ages onward, the latter for the 15th or 16th century. If you specifically want to use the spelling , then we suggest you consider an Italian persona and choose an Italian surname to finish you name. If you'd like some help with Italian names, please write us again. We 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 Pedro de Alcazar and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 28 Dec 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/perugia/ [2] 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 [3] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Women's Names_ (WWW: Self-published, 1998). http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/fnames.html [4] De Atienza, Julio, _Nobilario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Aguilar SA de Ediciones, 1954). [5] 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). [6] "Luis de Vargas" Catholic Encyclopedia. (WWW: New Advent, Inc., 1997) http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/15273a.htm [7] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), passim. [8] Marsa/, Francisco, et al. _Onoma/stica Barcelonesa del Siglo XIV_ (Barcelona: University of Barcelona, 1977).