ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1411 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1411 ************************************ 7 Jan 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the name . Here is what we have found. is a Polish spelling of the Old Testament name or , a name which was used in various spellings in many European languages. We found an example of your spelling recorded in Poland in 1394. Other period Polish spellings include [1]: Siemien 1405 Shemyon 1441 Syemyon 1444 Simion 1466 The similar spelling was used in Russian in 1520 (in the Cyrillic alphabet, of course) [2]. We did not find any other examples of the name spelled in the first syllable. and , on the other hand, are found in much of Europe through much of our period. If you'd like help choosing a spelling and building a complete name for the time and place you want to re-create, write us again with the details and we'll do our best to help. In medieval usage, the name really had no meaning. It was just a name. The Old Testament does offer a derivation from the identical Hebrew word "hearing" explaining that Simeon's mother gave him the name because God heard her prayers and gave her a son [3]. However, Biblical traditions aren't conclusive linguistic evidence, and the actual etymology of the name is uncertain. In any case, it is unlikely that this derivation was known to many people in our period; the primary association with the name for most medieval Europeans would have been Simon in the New Testament. 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 7 Jan 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). [2] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996), s.n. Semian. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ [3] Genesis 29:33