ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1506 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1506 ************************************ 1 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the surname . This letter is a brief answer to your question. We can't say for certain where this surname originated. It could easily have undergone several spelling changes as it passed from one language to another. That said, our best guess is that the name is German. There are several German places like (modern spelling), 1305, whose names gave rise to medieval surnames like 1392, 1387 [1, 2]. There are also modern places in Germany with similarly-constructed names and , so it is not impossible that there was once a place called or [3]. However, we did not find evidence of such a place name. 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 Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 1 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Friedberg(er). [2] Schwarz, Ernst, _Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus vorhussitischer Zeit_ (Koeln: Blehlau Verlag, 1957), s.n. Friedberg. [3] The Getty Information Institute Thesaurus of Geographic Names (WWW: Getty Information Institute, accessed 1 Feb 1999). http://www.ahip.getty.edu/vocabulary/tgn.html