ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1686 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1686 ************************************ From: "Brian M. Scott" 7 Apr 1999 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked whether was an authentic feminine name for the period early Tudor period 1485-1558. The name was originally a pet form of the given name , which in the Middle Ages was both masculine and feminine. 1275 may well have been the son of a man (or possibly a woman) named , but eventually the surname became hereditary in the modern fashion. Thus, although we found Tudor examples of the surname only from 1552 and 1591, we can be quite sure that it was in use throughout your period. [1, 2, 3] , oddly enough, is a bit more problematic, owing to the fact that it is a standard Latin form. This means that it was used in Latinized documents even when the current vernacular form of the name was quite different. In particular, the many women whose names were recorded as in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries were doubtless actually known by such names as , , , and their pet forms. [4] Indeed, toward the end of the 14th century, just about the time that it was becoming more common to record personal names in the vernacular, we find fewer and fewer examples of . The form virtually disappears until the second half of the 16th century, when it reappears in small numbers. These late examples may well be the names actually used by the women in question, since there are other examples of Classical names from the same period. [5, 6] However, we cannot be certain of this, so we recommend that you use a demonstrably vernacular form. Here are the ones that we have found in or reasonably near your period: [7, 8, 9] 1400, 1526, 1561, 1584 c.1515 1527, 1559, 1569 1549 1573 1573 1573 Although the -like citations are a bit late, this form of the name must have been in use throughout your period. is found as early as 1273, and the Latinized occurs almost a century earlier. [4] By the mid-15th century the name had been in common use for so long that the pet form had become a generic term for a woman. [10, 11] To sum up, any of the listed vernacular forms of the given name should be possible in your period, and in particular, is clearly very authentic. It also seems likely that any of the vernacular versions might have appeared as in a thorougly Latinized document, but we think that this would have been only a written form. Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been helpful and that you'll not hesitate to write again if you have any further questions. For the Academy, Talan Gwynek 7 April 1999 ===== References and Notes: [1] Reaney, P.H., & R.M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995); s.n. Stace. [2] Withycombe, E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); s.n. Eustacia. [3] Bardsley, Charles W. A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980); s.n. Stace. [4] Withycombe, op. cit., s.n. Juliana; Reaney & Wilson, op. cit., s.n. Gillian. [5] Talan Gwynek. 'Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_' (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997); s.n. Juliana. http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/ [6] Talan Gwynek, "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/eng16/ [7] Julian Goodwyn. 'English Names from pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions' (WWW: SCA, 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brasses/ [8] Withycombe, op. cit., s.n. Juliana; Bardsley, op. cit., s.nn. Julian, Tubman. [9] Bardsley, Charles Wareing. Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1970 [1897]); pp. 103-4. [10] The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973); s.v. Gill. [11] John Paston, writing to his wife Margaret in 1460, could say: 'My Lord Persy and all this house recomaund them to yow, dogge, catte and mowse, and wysshe ye had be here stille, for the sey ye are a good gille.' 'Paston letters and papers of the fifteenth century, Part I', Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, 1994. http://etext.virginia.edu/mideng.browse.html