ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1629 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1629 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "Brian M. Scott" 4 May 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! On behalf of a client you asked whether the name was compatible with any single time and place. You mentioned that he had substituted , the name of a woods-god, for , which derives from a word meaning 'farmer', in order to get a better fit with 'wolf-peace', the supposed meaning of . I'll discuss the individual elements and first and then deal with the question of how they could reasonably be combined. is a Middle English form of the Old English given (first) name . [1] The specific form appears to be characteristic of the later 13th century; we didn't find this exact spelling, but it is entirely compatible with such attested variants as 1260, 1279, 1297, and especially 1297. In all of these citations the name is used as your client wishes to use it, as a patronymic, i.e., an additional name identifying the bearer's father. [2] Earlier citations take somewhat different forms, e.g., c.1115 and the Latinized 1206 and 1214 'son of Wulfrid'. [3] is a variant of , a Latin derivative of 'wood, forest' used by the Romans as the name of a god of woods and trees. [4, 5] In Old French it developed into or (pronounced roughly \SIL-vayn\ or \SEL-vayn\), in which form it was taken to England by the Normans; examples include 1170, 1195. [14] (The in is a medieval spelling of the sound \v\.) It is possible that the name might have been recorded in a medieval Latin document as , but that would have been only a written form. It appears that died out fairly quickly in England; we've found no evidence for it after the 12th century. We therefore don't recommend combining it with the later 13th century form . or , however, would be a very reasonable late 12th century name that might have been written in a Latin document. In some form the name could also be made compatible with late 16th century English usage. The poet Edmund Spenser, who died in 1599, named his eldest son , and the same name appears in a London baptismal record in 1589; the variant would also be in keeping with 16th century spelling. [4, 6, 7] Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a late-period instance of the surname derived from Middle English , so we aren't sure exactly what forms it would have taken; we can only make an educated guess on the basis of other names containing the same elements. The name , which originally contained the Old English element , appears c.1520 in the form , so the spelling is probably within the possible range of variation; the harder question is what might have happened to the second part of the name. [8] One possible answer is offered by a surname derived from the Old English name . This name, which already appears in the form in 1198, developed into the surname by 1601. [9, 10] It therefore seems quite likely that the 1601 surname is the result of a similar (though not quite identical) development from . [11] Whether or not this is the case, is certainly a possible late 16th century English name. The modern surname offers another possibility. [2] It clearly shows exactly the same kind of development as and . Yet another example of this development is the modern surname , from the Old English name . [12] is a bit conjectural, but all in all we think that it is a possible 16th century name. We cannot say whether or something very similar is also a reasonable 16th century spelling, and there is too little evidence in favor of the possibility for us to recommend using the form in a 16th century name. You may want to explain to your client that his concern with meanings of given names is misplaced. The 12th century name simply means 'Silvein son of Wulfrid', and the 16th century name means 'Silvanus whose family name is Wulphra'. It's true that the elements and <-fri{dh}> are related to Old English words for 'wolf' and 'peace', but it's misleading to speak of the meaning of the name. What sets given (first) names apart from other words in a language is their lack of meaning: they are identifiers (labels), not descriptions. [13] Almost all names originally derived from a regular word (sometimes compound) in some language, but in becoming names they gained a usage separate from their normal meanings. Consider, for example, how seldom the meaning of the word is relevant to a modern woman named . Just as we recognize the connection between the name and the common noun , a ninth century Anglo-Saxon would certainly have recognized the elements of the name ; but like as not, a man named was simply named after someone who also bore the name. By the 13th century the second element, at least, was probably no longer recognizable. Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been useful; if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to write again. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek 3 May 1999 ===== References: [1] The symbol {dh} represents the letter edh. This letter is properly written like a backward <6> with a short bar across the curved upright. Here it is pronounced like the in . Later in the letter we use the symbol {ae} to stand for the a-e-ligature, the letter that looks like an and an squeezed together so that they share a single upright between them. [2] Reaney, P.H., & R.M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995); s.n. Woolfrey. [3] Selte/n, Bo. The Anglo-Saxon Heritage in Middle English Personal Names. Vol. II (Lund, Sweden: Royal Society of Letters at Lund, 1979); p. 174. (The slash stands for an acute accent over the preceding letter.) [4] Withycombe, E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); s.n. Silas. [5] Morlet, Marie-The/re\se. Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Sie\cle, Vol. I (Paris: E/ditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1968); p. 106. [6] Harvey, Paul, comp. & ed. The Oxford Companion to English Literature (Oxford: At the University Press, 1944); s.n. Spenser. [7] Brooke, J.M.S., and A.W.C. Hallen, A. W. C. The Transcript of the Registers of the United Parishes of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch Haw, in the City of London, from their Commencement 1538 to 1760 (London: Bowles & Sons, 1886). [8] Woodcock, Thomas, Janet Grant, & Ian Graham. Dictionary of British Arms, vol II (The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1996); p. 379. [9] Reaney, P.H., & R.M. Wilson, op. cit. s.n. Saffery. [10] Hitching, F.K. & S. Hitching. References to English Surnames in 1601 (Walton-on-Thames: Chas. A. Bernau, 1910); p. lviii. [11] Ibid., p. lxx. [12] Reaney, P.H., & R.M. Wilson, op. cit. s.n. Winfrey. [13] Epithets and nicknames are another matter: a nickname like 'the wise' may be intended ironically rather than literally, but it is bestowed because of its everyday meaning. [14] Reaney, P.H., & R.M. Wilson, op. cit. s.n. Sauvain - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Aryanhwy, April 2006: Added footnote [14].