ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1657
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1657
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From: "S Friedemann" 
3 Apr 1999

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if the Biblical name <Kenan> would be an authentic name
for an Englishman living between 1000 and 1600.  You also wanted to know
what the original pronunciation of the name was.  Here is a quick reply to
your question.

<Kenan> is an English transliteration of the Hebrew name of one of Adam's
great-grandsons [1,2].  While determining the pronunciation of ancient
Hebrew names is difficult as Hebrew did not have written vowels until about
the 11th century [3], we were able to reconstruct a plausible pronunciation
of the name: \kay-NAHN\.  In this pronunciation, the \k\ sound is softer
than the normal English \k\, but it is harder than the \ch\ sound in German
<bach> or Scottish <loch>, and the \ah\ is long in duration, though not in
sound.

We have seen no examples of <Kenan> in any culture in period Europe.  Only a
handful of Old Testament names were used by Christians in Europe before the
Reformation, specifically those of Biblical figures who had major roles in
the Old Testeament.  Most Old Testament names were not used by European
Christians until well after our period.  Jew and Muslims used a somewhat
larger selection, but they also used only a limited subset.  The custom of
naming children with obscure Old Testament names arose with the English
Puritans late in the 16th century and reached full flower in the late 17th
and 18th centuries among other Protestant sects.

We recommend that you consider a different name.  If you would like, we can
look for similar sounding English names.  Or, if you'd like, there are some
articles on English names available on the web at the forllowing URLs:

  "Given Names from 13th Century England"
     http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/eng13/

  "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379"
     http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/yorkshire/

  "English Names from Pre-16th Century Brass Inscriptions"
     http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/brasses/

We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not
hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further
questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Walraven
van Nijmegen, Arval Benicouer, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Jaelle of
Armida, and Blaise de Cormeilles.

For the Academy,
--Aryanhwy merch Catmael
     April 3, 1999

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References & Notes:

[1] Genesis 5:14

[2] 1 Chronicles 1:2

[3] The 11th century Masoretes were not the first to indicate the vowels in
written Hebrew, but their methods were the most popular and remained in use
for many centuries.