ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1551 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1551 ************************************ 15 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether "Fred of Saint James" is an appropriate name for a Spanish man living in the second half of the 11th century. This letter is a brief answer to your question. Your name is almost perfect. A man named whose home was in could have been called . isn't the Spanish form of , but it's a fine choice. It was one of the more common men's names throughout the Middle Ages in Spain [1, 2]. was a short form of the placename in Galicia, near Portugal. It wasn't a common surname, but we have found a couple 13th century examples and we're confident that it is an appropriate choice for your period [3]. It does mean "Saint James", but in a person's name it would have been understood to refer to the place, not directly to the saint. 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 Pedro de Alcazar and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 15 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Talan Gwynek, "A Glossary of the Personal Names in Diez Melcon's _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses_", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings (SCA: Chicago, 1993). [2] Diego Mundoz, _A Partial List of Leonese and Castillian Given Names 1050-1126_ (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). [3] Jos{e'} A. Fern{a'}ndez Fl{o'}rez, _Colecci{o'}n diplom{a'}tica del monasterio de Sahag{u'}n (857-1300): Volume V (1200-1300)_, Centro de estudios e investigaci{o'}n San Isidoro, Caja Espa{n~}a de inversiones, Caja de ahorros y Monte de Piedad, 1994.