ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1554 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1554 ************************************ 2 Apr 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether <Raimundo Alejandro de la Rosa> or <Raimundo Desparte> is an appropriate name for a 13th to 15th century Spanish man. Here is what we have found. <Raimundo> is a early-period form of the name that later was replaced by the Catalan form <Ramon>. We have found examples of <Raimundo> in the 12th and 13th century, and the intermediate form <Remont> in 1218. Later in period, in the 15th century, the name appears as <Ramon>, <Remon>, and in the diminutive form <Ramonet> [1, 2, 3]. The name <Alejandro> was not common in period Spain, and we didn't find this spelling at all, though we think it may be possible at the end of our period. The earliest example we found of any form of the name is a surname in 1128, <Estevan Alexandre> [5]. Here <Alexandre> was the name of Estevan's father. We found the same spelling as a given name in the late 15th century, and the short forms <Alexo> and <Alejo> in the late 15th century and in 1580, respectively [2, 3]. The last example suggests that <Alejandro> may have been in use at the end of our period. In most of our period, the vast majority of people in Spain had only one given name. The use of two given names is found as early as the 12th century in Barcelona, and occurs elsewhere occasionally in the late centuries of our period, but the general use of double or triple names is a post-period development. In most of our period, the construction <Raimundo Alexandre> would have been understood to mean "Raimundo, son of Alexandro". The early case we cited above is similar: "Estevan, son of Alexandro". <de la Rosa> is a fine late-period surname. We have found three examples in Toledo in 1561 [4]. We also found shorter <Rosa> in the 15th century [3]. It's not unlikely that the name was used earlier, too. It originally would have identified someone who lived in a place called <La Rosa> or perhaps who lived near a notable flowering tree. We could not find evidence of <Desparte> used as a Spanish surname. If you can tell us where you found it, we may be able learn more about it. If you are interested, we did find some similar-sounding surnames in a 16th century source. If you want a name suitable for the 12th or 13th century, we suggest you choose one given name: <Alexandro de la Rosa> or <Raimundo de la Rosa>. If you want a later-period name, a single given name is still the best choice: <Ramon de la Rosa> or <Alejo de la Rosa> would be excellent choices, and <Alejandro de la Rosa> would be a reasonable possibility. A double surname is not unlikely, so we can also recommend <Ramon Alejandre de la Rosa>, in which <Alejandre> is a surname. <Alejandro> could also have been found as a surname, so <Ramon Alejandro de la Rosa> is also possible. A double given name is most plausible very late in period, so this last name could have been understood that way in the late 16th century, but we stress that it would have been an unusual name. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Teceangl Bach, Juliana de Luna, Pedro de Alcazar, Modar Neznanich, Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, and Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 2 Apr 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] De Atienza, Julio, _Nobilario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Aguilar SA de Ediciones, 1954). [3] De La Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre, eds., _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca "Reyes Cato/licos", 1956). We found the 15th century example <Alexandre del Nero>. [4] Martz, Linda, Julio Porres, and Martin Cleto, _Toledo y los Toledanos en 1561_, Publicaciones del Instituto Provincial de Investigaciones y Estudios Toledanos, Monografias, Vol 5 (Toledo: Patronato "Jose Maria Cuadrado" del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1974). [5] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), section 35.