ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1727 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1727 ************************************ 21 Jul 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked about the names or , intended to be used by a French/Scottish woman. The period of interest you specified, 600-1550, is too broad to cover in one letter. If you narrow down your period, we can give you more specific information. In this letter, we'll give you some general information on the names you asked about and on naming in your cultures. You wrote that your persona has a Scottish mother and a French father who is a sailor. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell us what we need to know to suggest an appropriate name. In the Society, it's quite common to indicate mixed-nationality parentage by mixing two languages in one's name. That wasn't done in period. Regardless of your parents' origins, your name would have been entirely in the language spoken where you lived. If you moved to another country, your name would have been adapted to the new language in some way -- the details vary considerably -- but in any case the first step is to choose a name, in one language, that's appropriate to the time and place where you lived first. is a fine name in Scotland or France at some times in our period. We have found examples of in Scotland in 1529 and 1586, and in 1408 (which is a pet form of either or ; we're not sure which) [1]. In France, we've found a 16th century example of in Normandy, and a 15th century in Bruges, but nothing earlier [2, 3]. If you want an earlier-period name, you might consider or , used in France as early as the 13th century and in Scotland at least as early as the 16th century [4, 7]. is a French given name; we've found it in the spelling in 13th century Paris [4]. However, middle names were rare in France and essentially unknown in Scotland until after our period, so we strongly recommend that you choose only one given name. could also be used as a French surname; would be a reasonable 15th or 16th century French name [8]. is a plausible French surname, originally for someone who lived near the sea. We found the analogous modern surname , a contraction of "on the water", and the similar , contracted from "on the hill" [5]. We think that would be an appropriate surname for the last couple centuries of our period; earlier, it might have been written [6]. Your alternate surname, , doesn't fit any pattern of French naming that we've seen. We recommend you avoid it. In both France and the Lowlands of Scotland (where French influence was strongest), hereditary family names came into use around the 15th century. Before then, people often were identified by bynames that described them personally, i.e. a woman who lived near the sea might be called . Later in period surnames were inherited, just as they are today. A 15th or 16th century may or may not live near the sea; her surname only means that her father's surname was , too. Even earlier in period, though, the surname wouldn't particularly identify you as a sailor's daughter. If that's your goal, we could suggest some other surnames that do have that meaning. Write us again if you're interested. Most of this letter has discussed French names, because most of the names you asked about are French. If you are interested in a name for a woman living in Scotland, please write us again. If you can let us know more precisely when and where she lived, we can offer some suggestions for an appropriate name. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Rhodri ap Hywel, Margaret Makafee, Mari ni Bryan, Walraven van Nijmegen, Juliana de Luna, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, Alan Fairfax & Arval Benicoeur 21 Jul 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Talan Gwynek, "A List of Feminine Personal Names found in Scottish Records" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/scottishfem/ [2] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html [3] Luana de Grood, "Flemish Given Names from Bruges, 1400-1600", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/ [4] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997) Accessed June 21, 1999. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [5] Dauzat, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). s.nn. Delamere, Lescot, Lestrange, Surchamp [6] is the Old French precursor of . Einhorn, E., _Old French: A Concise Handbook_ (London & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974), p.108. [7] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "Early 16th Century Scottish Town Women's Names" (WWW: Privately pubished, 26 Oct 1996). http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/scottownwomen16.html [8] Dauzat, op. cit., s.n. Lyonnet.