ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1807
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1807
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From: "Sara L Friedemann" 
3 Dec 1999

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if the English feminine name <Mirield> was used in the
late 14th century, and if the surnames <Westcote> or <Sapperton> were
appropriate for the same time.  You also wanted to know if a girl would be
given her father's surname at birth and if she would take her husband's
surname when marrying.  Here is the information we have found.

The name <Mirield> is a rare spelling of the English adaptation of the
Gaelic name <Muirgel>; the only instance that we found of it is in a surname
from 1273. [1]  The more common form, and the only spelling that we found in
your period, is <Muriel>, found from the end of the 11th century on. [2]

Examples of <Westcote> that we found are <de Westecote> 1221, <atte
Westcote> 1327, and <de Wescote> 1327.  [3,4]  This is a fine choice for
your surname.

We did not find a surname based on <Sapperton>, a place found in Derbyshire,
Gloucestershire, and Lincolnshire, but we believe <Saperton, this spelling
found in 1247, would be a fine 13th century byname. [6]

As for your final questions, it is not clear that whether modern, inherited
surnames would have been used as early as 1373; a byname such as <Westcote>
or <Saperton> could have become an inherited surname, but it is was more
likely purely a descriptive byname.  However, it is certainly possible that
you would have used your father's byname (nickname), or have it applied to
you in official records.

Women in your period did sometimes take their husbands' surnames; however,
this differed greatly by region and social class.  Around 1300 in
Oxfordshire, for example, we see that women of the aristocracy beginning to
use the same surnames as their husbands.  By the early 15th century the
practice seems to have become an established custom in most communities,
though even then it was not universally observed. [5]

We hope that this 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 Maridonna Benvenuti.

For the Academy,
~Aryanhwy merch Catmael
    December 3, 1999

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References:

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

[2] Unpublished research of Talan Gwynek.

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

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

[5]McKinley, Richard.  The Surnames of Oxfordshire.  English Surnames Series
3 (London: Leopard's Head Press Limited, 1977).

[6]Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_,
4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991). s.n. Sapperton.