ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1458 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1458 ************************************ 8 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the name , created by combining and , would be an appropriate name for a man living in England sometime after 1000. We found no evidence that was used as a name in period England, and we do not believe that it is a properly constructed name. It is true that in some medieval languages, names were created by combining elements of other names. However this was not true of all languages, and even in the languages where it was done, it was not done randomly but according to fairly clear rules. Most early medieval Germanic languages used "dithematic" names, i.e. names made up of two elements. There was a stock of first elements (protothemes) and of second elements (deuterothemes) which were pasted together in many different combinations to create new names. The gender of the name was determined by the deuterotheme. In Old English (Anglo-Saxon), for example, the prototheme was used in masculine names such as and , and feminine names including . In this period, before the advent of family surnames, relationship was sometimes indicated by sharing one element of the name. So, for example, a man named might name his sons and and his daughter [1]. Not all combinations of elements were used, though, and it isn't always easy to understand why one name was used while another wasn't. Combining themes from existing Old English names to create a new, undocumented name is not a bad approach if you want a pre-Conquest English name, as long as you pick a second element of the correct gender. The set of elements used in names was large but not unlimited, and it seems to have become fixed by the Middle Ages. We do not recommend constructing names out of elements other than the ones documented in use in period. The best re-creation, of course, is to use a name that is known to have been used in period, and there were many, many names used in Anglo-Saxon England. If you'd like us to send you a selection of names beginning with a particular letter or sound, we'll be happy to do that. Most Anglo-Saxon names dropped out of use within a century or so after the Norman Conquest. Most of those that remained in use changed their spelling pretty significantly to adapt to the new language, Middle English, that evolved out of Old English and Norman French. For example, the Old English survived in Middle English as . Norman French did not follow the custom of dithematic naming, and in the transition from Old to Middle English, that practice was lost. The construction of new names from pieces of old ones became vanishingly rare. Neither nor is an Old English name, so they cannot correctly be used as the basis for constructing dithematic names. Both names are English forms of names imported by the Normans. derives from both and , which were confused by the 13th century. Period examples include the Latin 1242, 1272, 1539. We don't find the spelling in England until the 16th century [2, 3]. is a French form of that was imported to England by the Normans. It is recorded in England as early as the mid-12th century [4]. If you would like to consider other pre-Conquest English names, let us know what sort of name you'd like and we'll send you a list of some possibilities. You can also find a small selection on the web: Anglo-Saxon Names http://www.accd.edu/sac/leassist/bede.htm If you're interested in a post-Conquest name, you can find several lists on the web at . These lists include a few names that sound somewhat similar to [5, 6, 7]: Gerold (12th or 13th century) Gerard (early 13th century to late 16th) Gervase (early 13th century, late 16th century) Garret, Garrett (late 16th century) Garnett (late 16th century) 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. Blaise de Cormeilles and Talan Gwynek helped prepare this letter. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 8 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, _Anglo-Saxon Names_ (WWW: privately published, 1997). http://www.accd.edu/sac/leassist/bede.htm [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Garrad, Gerald, Gerard. [3] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [4] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/reaney/ [5] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.). http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5145/names.html [6] Talan Gwynek, "Given Names from Early 13th Century England" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/eng13/ [7] "The Agincourt Honor Rolls", _Family Chronicle_ (WWW: Family Chronicle, 1997). http://www.familychronicle.com/agincort.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 30 Nov 2004: Fixed a minor typo.