ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1743 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1743 ************************************ 30 Jun 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our opinion of as a name for a Spanish woman, born in Madrid in 1560. In particular, you asked whether we could find evidence of the surname . Here is what we have found. Your name is appropriate for your period, though it is an unusually complex name. The general practice of using multiple given names and multiple surnames in Spanish did not arise until after our period. Some examples with constructions similar to your name do exist in lists of 16th century Spanish nobility, but they are unusual. For example, we found the names and [1]. (The slash represents an accent on the preceding letter.) You are re-creating a very unusual pattern of name-formation for your period, and it is unlikely that you'd have used the full name except in the most formal circumstances. If you dropped one given name and simplified your surname to , , or , you'd have a much more typical name for your period. All the elements of your name are fine choices. was the 3rd most popular woman's name in 16th century Spain. was also reasonably common [2]. We found a man , Master of the Knight of Alcantara during the reign of Juan II, who ruled 1406-1454 [3], and several references to in 16th century records, including a woman named 1559 and a man 1559. The name ultimately derives from the Valle de Soto in Galicia, which eventually came to be known as , but one branch of the family lived in Andalucia by your period [1, 6]. The word means "copse, thicket" and used in this context probably means "larger" or "greater" [4]. is a common surname, originally patronymic (i.e. identifying someone as the son of ), but used as an inherited family name by your period. We gave one contemporary example above; the use of the accent was optional in period Castilian. We found several references to in 16th century records: 1555, 1539, and a 1555 who came from [6]. is a small town near Sevilla [5]. 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 Pedro de Alcazar, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Elsbeth Anne Roth, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 30 Jun 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] De Atienza, Julio, _Nobilario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Aguilar SA de Ediciones, 1954). [2] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Women's Names_ (WWW: Self-published, 1998). http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/fnames.html [3] Netanyahu, Benzion, _The Origins of the Inquisition_ (New York: Random House, 1995). [4] Dutton, Brian, et al., _Cassell's Spanish and English Dictionary_, (New York: Collier Books, Macmilan Publishing Company, 1986). [5] Informacio/n de Gerena (accessed 23 June 1999) http://www.dipusevilla.es/ayun/gerena/general.htm [6] Romera Iruela, Luis, and Ma. del Carmen Galbis Di/ez, _Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias, Siglos XVI, XVII, y XVIII_ (Sevilla: Archivo General de Indias, 1980), volume III.