ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1417 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1417 ************************************ 3 Dec 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about , which you'd like to use as a 15th century Hungarian name. This letter is a brief answer to your question. Your name is almost right for the culture you want to re-create; we have a couple minor suggestions. You made a small mistake in your research: Vlad Tepes was Wallachian (Romanian), not Hungarian. is a Romanian name, a form of the Old German name . There were several Wallachian rulers by that name. Wallachia, a Romanian- speaking area, was ruled by Hungary until 1330, independent until 1417, and ruled by Turkey for most of the rest of our period. Wallachia is currently part of Romania [1, 2]. The Hungarian equivalent of appears to be . We have several examples of in 16th century Hungarian patronymic surnames, so we believe it is a fine choice for your period [3]. A patronymic is a surname that identifies someone as his father's child. is a fine surname for your period, but it doesn't mean what you intend. The Hungarian name for is [4]. is a patronymic from the given name . The most likely 15th century spelling is [3]. is a fine Hungarian name for the 15th or 16th century; it means "Rado, son of Ferenc", not "Rado from Florence". We haven't found any examples from your period of Hungarian surnames based on cities outside Hungary. If you want to be "Radolfo from Italy" living in Hungary, you could call yourself or . means "Italian" and is used as a surname in Hungarian in your period [3]. If you are interested in a Romanian name, let us know and we'll be happy to help. You asked about references on Hungarian names. We know of several, but most of them are in Hungarian. Other than the articles in our library, the only English reference we know is: Ka/lma/n, Bela, _The World of Names: A Study in Hungarian Onomatology_ (Budapest: Akedemiai Kiado, 1978). It is a general, non-scholarly discussion of Hungarian personal names and place names. The slashes represent accents on the preceding letters. If you'd like a list of the Hungarian-language sources, let us know. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 3 Dec 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] "Walachia" Britannica Online. [Accessed 23 November 1998]. [2] Matei, Horia C., Marcel D. Popa, Nicolae Stoicescu, Nicolae C. Nicolescu, Gheorghe Radulescu, Ioan Chiper, Ion Alexandrescu, & Constantin C. Giurescu, _Chronological History of Romania_ (Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedica Romana, 1972). [3] Ka/zme/r Miklo/s, "Re/gi Magyar Csala/dnevek Szo/ta/ra: XIV-XVII Sza/zad" (Budapest, 1993), s.nn. Ferenci, Rado/, Olaz. [4] Magay Tama/s & Orsza/gh La/szlo/. _A Concise Hungarian-English Dictionary_, 3rd ed. (Budapest: Akade/miai Kiado/, 1991).