ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1571 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1571 ************************************ 23 Jun 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked about a 13th-15th century French feminine name meaning "Jean of the Forest", and wondered if is appropriate. During the 13th to 15th centuries in Picardy (northwestern France) the given name appears in various forms, including , , , and the pet forms , , , , and [1]. seems to be especially frequent in the available data. The phrase means 'of the dogs', not 'of the forest' [2]. You or your source may have confused 'dogs' with 'oak'. The byname 'of the Oak' would be a fine byname for your period; indeed, we found it recorded in 1342 in the name [3]. If, however, you'd rather use a name that means 'of the wood', we suggest some form of . We found examples of this form from 1322, 1386, and 1435-66. We also found the fused form from 1401 and 1455. If you want to give your name a specific regional flavor, you might consider using a Picard dialect form; we found 1372, 1438, and and 1386, 1404, and 1438. [4] Another possibility is , where is from Latin 'wood, forest'; a was recorded in 1380. [5] (His name actually refers to a specific place named , but it could just as well have meant simply that he lived by or in a wood.) We hope that this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear, or if you have other questions. We were assisted in researching and writing this letter by AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, and Lindorm Eriksson. For the Academy, Nencia di Bartolo Damiani & Arval Benicoeur 23 June 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ References: [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967); pp. 22, 29, 386, 389. [2] This is not quite correct, since is in fact ungrammatical: is a contraction of with a the singular definite article , while is plural. The grammatically correct forms are 'of the dog' and 'of the dogs'. [3] Morlet, op. cit., p. 258. [4] Ibid., pp. 356-7. [5] Ibid., pp. 70, 332.