ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1758 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1758 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 23 May 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if any form of the English surname was used in the 16th century. This letter is a brief answer to your question. We found various spellings of from the Middle Ages onward [1,2]: de Grenestrete 1257, 1273 atte Grenestrete 1327 Greenstreete 1669 In 1601, we also find references to a and , as well as , though the latter was more commonly spelled . [3] Based on these spellings, we believe that would have been spelled as , , , or in the 16th century, with the first two spellings being more common at the beginning of the century. By the 16th century, most English surnames were inherited. If your surname was , this would mean that your father's surname was , not that you lived on a green street. We hope that this brief letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael May 23, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). s.n. Greenstreet [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Greenstreet [3] Hitching, F.K. & S. Hitching, _References to English Surnames in 1601_ (Walton-on-Thames: Chas. A. Bernau, 1910).