ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1515
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1515
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26 May 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

Here is the information we found on the names <Calledon of
Halbourne> and <Cadwgan of Halbourne>, which you wanted to use as a
Welsh name from between 1200 and 1600.

As far as we can tell, <Calledon> is not a medieval given name.
However, <Cadwgan> is a fairly common Welsh name that could have
been used, in some form, at any point in your period. (1)

We didn't find any examples of <Halbourne> either.  However, it is not
an unlikely name.  In several other English placenames, <Hal-> derives
from the Old English <halh> which means, among other things, "a narrow
valley."  The placename element <-bourne> comes from Old English
<burna>, meaning stream. (2) <Halhburna> could be an Old English name
for a town near a stream in a valley, and <Halbourne> is a reasonable
spelling for the later part of your time period.  In the 1200's and
1300's, it would more likely have been spelled <Halburn>.

Even though <Cadwgan> is Welsh and <Halbourne> is English, it is not
impossible to combine these two names.  However, because English and
Welsh have different spelling rules, the spelling of your name would
change depending on the language and period it was written in.

Basically, there are two scenarios that could have produced a name
that meant <Cadwgan of Halbourne>.

Early in your period (1200-1400), most people in England and Wales did
not have fixed surnames.  In Welsh, men were usually known as their
father's sons--for example, <Cadwgan ap Ifor> "Cadwgan son of Ifor."
In English, people were identified in a number of different ways,
including by their place of residence or birth.  Because Welsh- and
English-speaking communities were mixed together in medieval Wales, it
would have been possible for a Welshman named <Cadwgan> to live near a
village called <Halburn>.  English-speakers might then have identified
him as <de Halburn>, "from Halburn."  They would also have recorded
his given name with an English spelling, probably <Cadugan>.  Thus,
<Cadugan de Halburn> is a reasonable English name for a Welshman
during this period.  Speakers of Welsh would probably have identified
him according to Welsh custom as his father's son.

During the 1400's, inherited family names were adopted by both Welsh
and English speakers in the border area of Wales and England.  It
would have been possible for a Welsh family to adopt the surname
<Halbourne> and to name one of their children <Cadwgan>.  We found a
number of late-period spellings of <Cadwgan>: (1)

  Kadegan (1586)
  Kydogan (1602)
  Kydwgan (1575) (as surname)
  Codoken (1533) (as surname)
  Codogan (1556)

These examples can be used as evidence for a number of other variants.

Thus, <Codogan Halbourne>, or the spelling variants we mentioned, is a
possible name for a late-period Welshman.  In this period, we've seen
examples of names which mix Welsh and English spellings, so <Cadwgan
Halbourne> or <Cadugan Halbourne> are also possible toward the end of
your period. (3)

To summarize, we can recommend the name <Cadugan de Halburn> as a
plausible English name for a man of Welsh birth between 1200 and 1400,
and <Codogan Halbourne> as a name for a Welsh man after 1400.


We hope this letter has been helpful, and that we can continue to
assist you.  We were assisted in preparing this letter by Talan
Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Margaret Makafee.

In service,
Alan Fairfax & Arval Benicoeur
Academy of S. Gabriel
26 May 1999

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References

(1) Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff:
University of Wales Press, 1985), s.n. Cadwgan

(2) Smith, A.H., _English Place-Name Elements_ (Cambridge: At the
University Press, 1956), s.vv. halh, burna.

(3) Morgan op. cit., passim.