ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1671
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1671
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From: "Brian M. Scott" 
21 Mar 1999

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to combine the given (first) name <Emma> with some form
of the surname <Featherstone> to produce an English feminine name
authentic for the period 1300-1450 but weren't sure just how this
should be done.  Specifically, you asked whether you should use <Emma
Featherstone>, <Emma de Featherstone>, <Emma de Federestan>, or yet
some other combination. 

<Emma> is an excellent choice: it is very well attested throughout
your period. [1]  

<Featherstone> is originally a place-name; there are places with this 
name in the counties of Northumberland, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire 
West Riding.  <Petrus de Fetherstan> and <Simon de Fetherston>, both 
recorded in Yorkshire in 1379, probably came originally from the last 
of these places, whose name was recorded as <Fetherstan> as early as 
1166.  This same spelling was used in 1256 for the Northumberland 
place-name.  Finally, in 1601 the surname was recorded as 
<Fetherstone>. [2, 3, 4]

>From these data we conclude that <Emma de Fetherstan> and <Emma de 
Fetherston> would both be authentic 14th century names.  As the early 
citations of the place-name suggest, <Fetherstan> is the likelier 
spelling at the beginning of your period.  This is because the 
<-stan> comes from Old English <stan> 'stone', which only gradually 
became <ston(e)> in the different dialects.  It was especially slow 
to change in the North of England, where two of the three places with 
this name are found.

After about 1400 it's fairly unusual to find the proposition, and
we'd expect to see <Emma Fetherstan> or <Emma Fetherston> instead.

We did not find any period examples of the modern spelling <Feather->
and cannot recommend that form, especially as early as 1450.  We did
find the place-name spelled <Federestan>, but only in the 12th
century, so we don't recommend using it in your period. [3, 5]

We did find a citation <John atte Whitestone> 1332; this
shows that at least in some dialects the modern spelling <-stone>
was possible as early as the 14th century. [5]  Thus, it's likely
that <Emma Fetherstone> is a reasonable spelling for the last
century or so of your period.

In short, <Emma de Fetherstan> is a wonderfully authentic 14th
century name.  <Emma de Fetherston> is also a good choice for the
14th century, but it's not quite as good a choice as <Emma de
Fetherstan>, especially for the first half of the century.  After
1400 or so either <Emma Fetherstan> or <Emma Fetherston> be
suitable, and it's likely that <Emma Fetherstone> would as well.

I hope that this quick letter has been useful.  If you have any 
further questions, please don't hesitate to write us again.

For the Academy,

Talan Gwynek
20 March 1999

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[1] Talan Gwynek.  'Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English
Surnames_' (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997);
s.n. Emma. 
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/

[2] Bardsley, Charles W.  A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980); s.n. Featherston.

[3] Ekwall, Eilert.  The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English
Place-names, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989); s.n.
Featherstone.

[4] Hitching, F.K. & S. Hitching.  References to English Surnames in
1601 (Walton-on-Thames: Chas. A. Bernau, 1910); p. xxxv.

[5] Reaney, P.H. & R.M. Wilson.  A Dictionary of English Surnames
(London: Routledge, 1991); s.nn. Featherston, Whitestone.