ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1796 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1796 ************************************ 28 Oct 1999 From: Alan Terlep Greetings, Here's a summary of what we were able to find out about , which you wanted to use as a Spanish name from the 1500's. We weren't able to find anything similar to that would be appropriate for your period. In addition, the overall structure of your name is not typical of your period. Middle names are common today, but were rare in period Spain. Even in late period, the majority of Spanish women were known by a single given name and a family name. Middle names were almost unknown in the general populace, and they were rare even among the higher nobility. Thus we can suggest a couple of alternatives. If you want to keep your Spanish persona, you could use , which would be perfect for the 16th century. Both names can be dated to 1561. (1) goes back to the 15th century at least, (2) while (often found with the spelling goes back as far as the 10th century in Spain. (3) If you want to keep because of the sound and spelling, we can look at other cultures where forms of were used in period. If you take this approach, we would help you develop a new name in whatever culture you eventually chose. Juliana de Luna, Pedro de Alcazar, Walraven van Nijmegen, Arval Benicoeur, and Elsbeth Ann Roth contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful. Let us know if we can be of more assistance. Your servant, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel October 27, 1999 (1) Martz, Linda, Julio Porres, and Martin Cleto, _Toledo y los Toledanos en 1561_, Publicaciones del Instituto Provincial de Investigaciones y Estudios Toledanos, Monografias, Vol 5 (Toledo: Patronato "Jose Maria Cuadrado" del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1974). (2) De La Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre, eds., _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca "Reyes Cato/licos", 1956). (3) Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957).