ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1529 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1529 ************************************ From: "Brian M. Scott" 7 Mar 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked whether is a historically accurate feminine English name from the period 1300-1500, noting that is found in Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales'. The place-name is found in that spelling as early as 1244, and we even found the byname 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 had generally ceased to be used except in a few names of foreign origin. In any form the name or 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, 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 and 1202, were Classical; others, like 1231-2 (Latin for 'admired'), 1212 (Latin for 'melody'), and 1327 (Latin 'perseverance'), are frankly fanciful. [2] With very few exceptions these names then went out of use, though a few were subsequently revived. In particular, 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 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 . 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 and suggests that it was probably \dee-AHN\ or \dee-AHN-@\, where \@\ is the schwa sound of in or . [5] If so, and would be suitable as vernacular spellings of the name even c.1300. If you aren't set on and would prefer a name that is definitely known to have been used in your period, you might consider . This name, perhaps representing a vernacular [7], is found throughout the 13th and 14th centuries and beyond. Other 14th century forms include 1301, 1349, 1319, and the pet form 1332, which was probably pronounced \DEE-@t\. [2, 6] Any of these could be combined with 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 ===== 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 , was probably indistinguishable in speech from the man's name; both were probably pronounced roughly \DEN-iss\.