ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1753
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1753
************************************

11 Jul 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked help choosing a 16th century Italian feminine name, with
<Adelicia> as the given name and some form of <Tagliaferro> as the surname.
You also asked how that name might have been interpreted in England.  Here
is what we have found.

<Adelicia> is a Latin form of <Adalhaidis>, the ultimate Frankish root of
<Adelaide> and <Alice>.  We found <Adeliza> in England in 1086,
<Atheleisia> in 1219-20 [6].  The name was popularized in Italy in the 13th
century by Queen Adelasia di Torres, daughter-in-law of Emperor Frederick
II.  It was fairly common in 13th century Perugia in the forms <Adelasia>
and <Adelagia>.  It is currently in use in northern and central Italy, but
we don't know whether it persisted through the intervening 700 years or was
revived in modern times.  It is certainly plausible that it could have been
available in 16th century Italy [2, 7].

Unfortunately, it's difficult to say how this name might have been adapted
into English in the 16th century.  Latin forms similar to <Adelicia>
dropped out of use in the 13th century.  The 16th century derivative of
this name was <Alice>, but it does not seem likely that English speakers of
that period would have recognized the connection between <Alice> and
<Adelasia>.  They might have left it unchanged, or they might have spelled
it according to English conventions, possibly as <Adelacy> [6].  They might
even have retained the Italian spelling.  Without more data, we can't say
more.


The Italian surnames <Tagliaferro> and <Tagliaferri> derive either from a
nickname <taglia ferro> "cut iron", probably given to a prodigious
swordsman, or from the French given name <Taillefer>, which was popularized
in chivalric romance [1].  We do not have a dated example in 16th century
Italy, but we have no doubt the surname was available at that time,
probably in both its modern forms.  <Adelasia Tagliaferro> is a fairly good
choice for a 16th century northern or central Italian name.

We have a few examples of 16th century English renderings of Italian
surnames.  These are surnames of Italians who became naturalized Englishmen
in the 16th century [3]:

 Balby         Penny      
 Capone        Penison    
 Cavalari      Portynary  
 Lomelino      Ristico    
 Marruffo      Rizzo      
 Mercandini    Runcone    
 Palavicino    Salvaigo   
               Zenzano    

<Penny>, <Porynary>, and <Balby> were probably originally <Penni>,
<Portinari>, and <Balbi>.  Other examples are <Phillip Gualterottie>,
perhaps originally <Filippo Gualtierotti>, and <Pompey Bedini>, who might
have been <Pompeo Bedini> [4].  And of course the late 15th century English
explorer <John Cabot> was Italian, born <Giovanni Caboto> [5].

Taken together, these examples suggest that in most cases, Italian surnames
remained largely unchanged in translation to English, perhaps being
re-spelled according to English conventions.  <Tagliaferri> might have been
rendered <Tallyferry> or <Talleferrie>.  <Tagliaferro> could have become
<Tallefero>.  Thus, the Italian name <Adelasia Tagliaferro> might have been
rendered in English as <Adelacy Tallefero> or <Adelasia Tallyferro>.

However, there was an English surname derived from the same nickname in Old
French, <taille fer> "cut iron", and also from the same given name
<Taillefer>.  By the 15th and 16th centuries, it had evolved into a variety
of forms in England, including <Talyver> and <Tollfeyre> 1524 and <Taylfar>
1558 [8, 9], and in the Scottish Lowlands, including <Talliefere> 1484,
<Talyrefer> 1512, <Talliefer> 1550, and <Talfeir> 1599 [10].  It is
possible that the similarity of the names might have been recognized, and
the English name could have been used as a translation for the Italian
one.  Thus, <Adelasia Tagliaferro> might also have been translated to
<Adelasia Talliefer> or something similar.


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, Evan da Collaureo, 
Pedro de Alcazar, and Roxanne Joslin.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  11 Jul 1999


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References

[1] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori
Editore, 1978), s.n. Tagliaferri.

[2] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori
Editore, Milan, 1992), s.n. Adelasia.

[3] Ewen, C. L'Estrange, _A History of Surnames of the British Isles_
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1931; Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1968),
p.202. 

[4] Talan Gwynek, "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (WWW:
J. Mittleman, 1997).  The surnames are given in the notes to certain given
names. 
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/eng16/

[5] "Cabot, John", Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. [Accessed 29 June 1999]. 
http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=18743&sctn=1

[6] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English
Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). 
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/reaney/

[7] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia"
(WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). 
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/perugia/

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

[9] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.n. Telfer.

[10] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and
History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Telfer.