Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 181

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 181

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/181

This is one of the Academy's earliest reports. We are not confident that these early reports are accurate. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on the name "Alejandra Ferretsbane." "Alejandra" is a form of "Alexandra," which is not found in Mongolia, so we didn't examine our sources for Mongolian names.

Before we start, we wanted to provide some background. Different SCA members have different levels of interest in historical authenticity-- some members are primarily interested in re-creating a historical environment while others focus more on social activities. You aren't under any obligation to choose a name that could actually have existed in the Middle Ages, although (since the SCA is a medieval history society) we strongly encourage you to do so.

We didn't find any examples of "Alejandra" or "Alejandro" in the lists of period Spanish names we have. However, we did find an example of the surname "Alejandre," which was most likely derived from the man's name "Alexander." Most Spanish male names had female counterparts, so we can say that "Alejandra" is a plausible Spanish woman's name.

Our sources are limited, so it's possible that there are numerous examples of the name "Alejandra" which we haven't found. However, there are reasons to think that "Alejandra" was extremely rare in Spain. Since we didn't find any examples of "Alejandro" and only one example of a surname based on "Alejandro," we have some reason to think that "Alejandro" (and, by extension, "Alejandra") was not common.

"Alexandra" is a fairly common name in English, German, Russian, and French, and forms of the name are found in Italian (Alessandra), and possibly in Irish and Scots. Its popularity grew in large part out of the popularity of the romances of Alexander the Great, which were widely read throughout Western Europe from the 12th century through the Renaissance.

The name "Ferretsbane" unlike any medieval name that we have found. We have found no medieval name based on the word "ferret" or anything analogous, and we have found no names in Spanish or English based on the word "bane". If you would like to look at some examples of medieval Spanish names, we recommend "Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses" by Melcon. This book is in Spanish, but it includes lists of period Spanish surnames with dated examples, so you will find it useful. Another book, The Romance of Spanish Surnames, by Charles Maduell, is not quite as a good a historical source, but is in English.

There are couple of options. If you want to have a Spanish persona, you could find a Spanish last name. The most common source of last names in Spain were places of origin--a person from Madrid could have been called "de Madrid." Other people's last names were based on their father's name, such as "Rodriguez" (Rodrigo's child) or "Lopez" (Lope's child). You may want to research other cultures before choosing a permanent persona, so that you have some ideas. You may find the information in the S. Gabriel Web site useful, especially some of our frequently asked questions, which can be found at

http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/faq/

Arval D'Espas Nord, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Angus Scrymgeour, Claricia Nyetgale, Walraven van Nijmege, Rouland Carre, and Lindorm Eriksson all assisted with this letter.

We hope this has been helpful. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) R. P. Gonzalo Diez Melcon, "Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive)" (Universidad de Granada: 1957)

(2) Charles R Maduell Jr., "The Romance of Spanish Surnames" (privately printed, 1967).