ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1690
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1690
************************************

*************************************************
*                                               *
* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
*                                               *
*************************************************


From: Alan Terlep 
7 Jun 1999

Greetings,

Here is the information we found on the name <Cynthia>.

<Cynthia> was originally a poetic name for the Greek goddess Artemis,
who was said to have been born on Mount Cynthus.  As far as we can
tell, it was never used as a given name in Greek or Latin.  The name
<Cynthia> used today might have been found in England in the late
1500s, but certainly not before then. [1]

However, in the 13th century <Cynthia> appears in English as one of
many variant spellings of the Provencal name <Sanchia>. In 1243
Richard of Cornwall married a daughter of the Count of Provence named
<Sanchia>, and after that <Sanchia> appeared in a variety of
spellings, including <Cynthia>, <Scientia>, and <Science>.  Later
spellings include <Sens>, <Sence>, <Sense>, <Saints>, and
<Sanche>. [2,3]

You could use <Cynthia> as an English variant of <Sanchia> for a
persona who lived roughly between 1250 and 1350, or as the name of a
person who lived after 1550.

Aryanhwy Prytydes verch Catmael Caermyrddin, Pedro de Alcazar, Arval
Benicoeur, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Talan Gwynek
contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

[1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian
Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).  "English
writers in the later Middle Ages, struggling to spell Sanchia
... sometimes turned it into Cynthia, but the name wasn ot really used
until the Renaissance.  It occurs from time to time in the 17th and
18th C ... About the end of the 19th C it suddently became fashionable
in England for a time.

[2] ibid., s.n. "Sanchia"

[3] Reaney, , P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English
Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995),
s.n. "Science"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Addendum, Arval, 13 Jan 2005: Added quote from source [1] in the
footnote.