ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1611 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1611 ************************************ From: "Brian M. Scott" 1 Apr 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked whether would be a suitable name for an Englishman living in the period 1250-1400, especially for an archer. The name first appears in that form sometime in the 12th century; the earliest examples that we could find are in charters of King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216. (The name may have been in use a bit earlier in the spoken language, but if so, this use is hidden behind the usual documentary Latin form .) Never extremely common during the Middle Ages, it was most popular in the North of England. [1, 2] gave rise to a number of pet forms that sometimes appear even in documents. For example, a man whose name is recorded as in 1291 also appears as in 1291 and as in 1292. Another man appears both as and as 1302. [1] It would be very authentic from time to time to substitute one of these pet forms for . As you surmised, is indeed from a nickname for an archer: it's a contracted form of 'the archer', which is found as early as 1199. The longer form continued in use through most of your period; we found examples from 1220, 1225, 1246, 1248, 1255, 1260-1, 1270, 1273, 1291-2, 1299, 1320-1, 1327, 1328, 1332, and 1375. [1, 3, 4, 5] Other forms also occur, but this one appears to be the most common by a significant margin. We found one example of , on a seal from 1324-5. [5] It is an uncommon form, but this shows that it did occur. It would be in keeping with historical practice to use it as an occasional variant of the more usual . Toward the end of your period there was an increasing tendency to drop articles and prepositions from nicknames, and after 1400 or so they are quite rare, especially in the south. If you decide to set your persona near the end of the 14th century, you might consider using the simple form , either regularly or as an occasional variant. Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has answered your questions satisfactorily. If anything remains unclear, or if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to write us again. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek 31 March 1999 ===== References: [1] Reaney, P.H., & R.M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995); s.nn. James; Jack, Jackaman, Jacklin; Archer. [2] Withycombe, E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); s.n. James. [3] Bardsley, Charles W. A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980); s.n. Archer. [4] Thuresson, Bertil. Middle English Occupational Terms. Lund Studies in English XIX (Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup, 1950; Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1968); p. 161. [5] Chesshyre, Hubert & Thomas Woodcock. Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary. Vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992); p. 10.