ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1729 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1729 ************************************ 9 Aug 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel You asked how early the name was used in Italy, and whether it was used during the Italian renaissance. Here's what we found. We did not find evidence that the spelling was used in medieval or renaissance Italy, but we did find another spelling, . It is found in northern and central Italy, and is most common in Tuscany and Lazio. Its use is a direct result of the classical revival of the renaissance.[1] We found two women named in Florence in 1427.[2] The masculine names and were interchangable in the late Roman empire, although for the late Imperial period, we would expect the spelling . While we did not find examples of or from that time, they should both be reasonable woman's names; again, though, we would expect the spelling for the later Empire. Both of these names are pronounced \GUY-ah\, where the first syllable is pronounced like the word . We hope 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 any further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval d'Espas Nord, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvyn, and Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja. In Service, Margaret Makafee ------------------ References: [1] De Felice, Emidio. Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani. (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992. s.n. Caio [2] Arval Benicoeur. "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427." (WWW:J. Mittleman, 1998) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/catasto