ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1503 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1503 ************************************ 1 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the names and . This letter is a brief answer to your question. The name first appeared in _Othello_, which was first performed in 1604. Shakespeare adapted his play from a story by the 16th century Italian writer Giambattista Giraldi (also called Cinthio) in which the character is named . That name was invented by Giraldi from the Greek words (a negative prefix) and "fate, destiny", hence "ill-fated" [1, 2]. We have found no evidence that the name was used in period in Italian or in English, and we do not recommend it as good re-creation. We found no reference to . If you can tell us where you found that name, we may be able to tell you more. We found one similar-sounding name, , in use in various parts of Italy today. It is a feminine form of the rare Late Latin name , and may have been used in our period [2]. If you'd like to consider some other medieval Italian names, you can find a few lists on the web at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/romance.html 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 Maridonna di Benvenuto and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 1 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] "Othello" Britannica Online. [Accessed 26 January 1999]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/730/20.html [2] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992), s.nn. Desdemona, Desolina.