ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1529
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1529
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From: "Brian M. Scott" 
7 Mar 1999

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked whether <Dyane of Arden> is a historically accurate 
feminine English name from the period 1300-1500, noting that <Dyane> 
is found in Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales'.

The place-name <Arden> is found in that spelling as early as 1244, 
and we even found the byname <de Arden> recorded in exactly that form 
in 1268. [1, 2]  This byname would be appropriate at any time from 
the middle of the 13th century until about 1400, when the preposition 
<de> had generally ceased to be used except in a few names of foreign 
origin.

In any form the name <Diane> or <Diana> is very rare in period
England.  One source, whose earliest example is of a woman born in
1580,  goes so far as to say that the name is first found in England
in the 16th century. [3]  We have found one earlier example, <Diana>
1256.  However, the timing of this example is significant.  During
the high Middle Ages, say from the late 11th century to the early
14th century and especially in the first half or so of the 13th
century, there was a small fashion in England for unusual names,
especially for women.  Some, like <Diana> and <Philomena> 1202, were
Classical; others, like <Admiranda> 1231-2 (Latin for 'admired'),
<Melodia> 1212 (Latin for 'melody'), and <Ynstauncia> 1327 (Latin
<instancia> 'perseverance'), are frankly fanciful. [2]  With very
few exceptions these names then went out of use, though a few were
subsequently revived.  In particular, <Diana> became something of a
Renaissance fashion, reaching France in the 15th century (e.g.,
Diane de Poitiers, 1499-1566, favorite of Henri II of France) and
England a bit later. [3, 4]

To sum up, we think that <Diana de Arden> is an unusual but
authentic name for the second half of the 13th century.  The fashion
for unusual names seems largely to have run its course by about
1300, but there are enough examples from the early 14th century to
suggest that it would still have been possible at the very beginning
of your period.  After that, however, it seems quite unlikely.

At the beginning of your period given (first) names were usually
recorded in Latinized forms.  Thus, regardless of what the spoken
form may have been, the name would almost certainly have been
written <Diana>.  It's hard to speak with any confidence about the
vernacular form of a name as rare as this one seems to have been at
that time, but the evidence of Chaucer's slightly later spellings
<Dyane> and <Diane> suggests that it was probably \dee-AHN\ or
\dee-AHN-@\, where \@\ is the schwa sound of <a> in <about> or
<sofa>. [5]  If so, <Dyane> and <Diane> would be suitable as
vernacular spellings of the name even c.1300.

If you aren't set on <Dyane> and would prefer a name that is
definitely known to have been used in your period, you might consider
<Dionysia>.  This name, perhaps representing a vernacular <Denise>
[7], is found throughout the 13th and 14th centuries and beyond.
Other 14th century forms include <Dyonisia> 1301, 1349, <Dyonisya>
1319, and the pet form <Dyot> 1332, which was probably pronounced
\DEE-@t\. [2, 6]  Any of these could be combined with <de Arden> to
yield a very authentic 14th century name.

Arval Benicoeur and Aryanhwy merch Catmael Caermyrdin also 
contributed to this letter.  We hope that it has been useful and that 
you'll write again if you have any further questions.

For the Academy,

Talan Gwynek
6 March 1999

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References and Notes:

[1] Ekwall, Eilert.  The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English
Place-names.  4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991); s.n.
Arden.

[2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson.  A Dictionary of English Surnames
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995); s.nn.
Arden, Denis, pp. xl-xli.

[3] Withycombe, E.G.  The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian
Names.  3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); s.n. Diana.

[4] Grand Larousse Encyclope/dique en dix volumes (Paris: Librairie
Larousse, 1960-1964); s.n. Diane de Poitiers.

[5] Chaucer, Geoffrey.  'The Caunterbury Tales' (WWW: University of
Virginia Library Electronic Text Center, 1995).
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/

[6] Talan Gwynek.  'Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English
Surnames_' (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997); 
s.n. Denise.
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/

[7] The name, which also occurs as <Denis>, was probably 
indistinguishable in speech from the man's name; both were probably 
pronounced roughly \DEN-iss\.