ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1398
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1398
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28 Dec 1998
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for information about the feminine forename <Francesca> and the
surnames <Vargas> and <Verga>.  Here is what we have found.

<Francesca> is an Italian name, quite common in some times and places.  In
13th century Perugia, for example, it was recorded as <Francisca> and
<Franceska> [1].  In 15th century Florence, <Francesca> 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
<Francisca> or <Franc,isca>.  The comma in the name represents a cedilla, a
little hook hanging down from the <c>, marking it as a soft <c>.  By the
end of our period, this was one of the most common names in Castille [3].
It is unlikely that the spelling <Francesca> 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)

<Vargas> or <de Vargas> is a fairly common Castillian surname, ultimately
derived from a placename.  An <Alonso Ferna/ndez de Vargas> is recorded in
1390, <Diego de Vargas> in the late 15th century, and <Luis de Vargas> in
the early 16th century [4, 5, 6].  Spanish locative surnames (surnames
based on placenames) were also used without the preposition <de> by the
last centuries of our period [7].

We could not find the surname <Verga> in our references.  The modern
Spanish word <verga> 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
<Francescha de Vargas>, 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 <Francisca de Vargas> or <Francisca Vargas>.
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
<Francesca>, 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


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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).