ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1516 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1516 ************************************ From: "Richard Threlkeld" 9 Feb 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked if is historically accurate for a woman in England during the Elizabethan era (in particular between 1500 and 1600). You also wanted to know if the name would be correct. Here is what we have found. occurs twice between 1581 and 1595 in Canterbury records [1]. , a variant spelling of , is found in 1597 [2]. is found on a brass rubbing in 1485 [3]. Sir Phillip Sidney was a noted poet in your period from 1554-1586 [4]. The spelling occurs earlier; we found examples in 1280 and 1325, and the variant in 1458 [5, 6]. is a fine name for a woman of your period. People in 16th century England generally used only a single surname, much as we do today. A woman might be described as , but the place name would not have been part of her name this late in period. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek and Arval d'Espas Nord. For the Academy, Caelin on Andred January 26, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/eng16/ [2] 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/ [3] Janell Lovelace, "English Names from Pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions" Ashmolean Museum: Antiquities - Brass Rubbings - Norfork/15 http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/brasses/ [4] Kenneth O. Morgan, _The Oxford History of Britain_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [5] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Sidney, Sydney. [6] Reaney, P. H., _The Origin of English Surnames - Revised Edition_ (Oxford: Oxford Press, 1997), p 9.