ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1598 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1598 ************************************ 26 Mar 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a German woman living after 1300. This brief letter is an answer to that question. Your name is basically correct, though we will suggest a small change in spelling. was a moderately popular name in 13th and 14th century Germany. We found it recorded as in 1375 and 1383 and in the Latinized form in the first half of the 14th century. We also found the pet forms , , and in that century [1, 2]. It's a fine choice. In all these names, by the way, the final is pronounced: \so-FEE-@\ or \FEE-@\, where \@\ represents the schwa sound at the end of . We could not find in our sources. If you can tell us where you found it, we may be able to learn more about it. However, we suspect it is a modern spelling of a place name something like , which we've constructed based on the given name , which appears in the Nibelungenlied and is elsewhere recorded in the Latin forms in 1255, 1300 [3]. We believe that is a place name that could probably have existed in your period. A woman living in that place could have been known as or . The two names have the same meaning, "Sophie from Eckewartsheim". We hope this brief 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 Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 26 Mar 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_ (Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and the Historischen Kommission fu:r Hessen, 1974), p.39. [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1998). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/bahlow_v.htm [3] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p.13.