ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1772 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1772 ************************************ 3 Aug 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Scottish man living between 1250 and 1600. Here is what we found. The name is a fine choice. It occurs in various spellings in Scottish records from the 12th century onward. Here are the ones we found [1]: , 1190-1220 , in Galloway 1489-1498 , in Prestwick 1505 , in Edinbrugh 1583 , in Aberdeen 1596 or , in Melrose 1606 The Scottish surname derived from a pet form of the given name . We have not found a period Scottish example of , but we did find the root name used as a surname in the Scottish Lowlands: 1424, and 1562 [1]. (The here actually represents the letter yogh, pronounced like the in .) We also found 1332 in England [3]. Given this evidence, we believe is a good choice for your period & culture. Until 1500 or so, a man would probably have been surnamed only if his father's first name were . Later in period, would probably have been an inherited surname, in the modern style. In conclusion, is a fine name for a man living in the parts of Scotland most influenced by Norman (and later English) culture. In the first couple centuries of your period, the Norman-French and English speaking populations of Scotland lived mostly in the south. After 1400 or so, their cultures had evolved into the Lowland culture that lasted well past the end of our period. The language of the Lowlands was Scots, a close relative of contemporary English. It is distinct from Gaelic, which was spoken in the Highlands in this period. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or you have questions. We were assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Blaise de Cormeilles, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Roxanne Joslin & Arval Benicoeur 3 Aug 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Daniel. [2] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.) [URL:http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5145/names.html]. [3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Dann.