ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1737 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1737 ************************************ 13 May 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Italian woman in the 1490s. This letter is a brief answer to your question. Your name is fine, though would have been more typical of your period. Both and are recorded as women's names in 15th century Florence [1, 2]. is recorded as a man's name in the same period; it was a short form of or that was most common in Tuscany [3, 4]. Middle names or double given names were used in Italy as early as the 13th century, but they didn't become common until the 16th century. In your period, most people had only one given name. If you want a name typical of 15th century Tuscany, we suggest you drop one of the given names. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 13 May 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/catasto [2] Rhian Lyth, "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/italian.html [3] Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW: Self-published, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto [4] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992), s.n. Neri.