ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1811 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1811 ************************************ 29 Nov 1999 From: Alan Terlep Greetings, Here is the information we found about the name , which you wanted to use as an Anglo-Norman woman's name from between 1050 and 1150. We're not sure that would be historically accurate for this time and place. was originally a Latin name, and many of these Latin names fell out of use in the Middle Ages and were revived only during the Renaissance or modern periods. The latest medieval reference we found to in France dates to the 800s. (1) We found a reference to a saint named Aurelia born c. 950-960; she is described as a French nun who spent most of her life in Austria. (2) However, many people who entered religious life chose new names that were not necessarily used outside the cloister and so even that reference doesn't prove conclusively that was used by ordinary people in France. In addition, we have no examples of from England at all. While the Normans did import many French names into England, there are a number of French names that are not found in records of Anglo-Norman names. So there is some circumstantial evidence that an English woman from your period could have been named , but that evidence is not conclusive. If you want to use a name that was definitely found in England, we recommend a different choice. We can recommend some Web pages that include many womens' names from your period: A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272 http://members.xoom.com/nicolaa/names.html Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/reaney/ We didn't find any example of the name in England. However, we found a number of other names given to people who worked with silver, including (dated to 1205) and (dated to 1212). (3) These names, or some variants of them, would be appropriate for your period (note that at this time, and were sometimes interchangeable). It is fairly likely that a person who worked in silver would be known as a "goldsmith." Modern French uses the word "orfevre" (literally "goldsmith" for silversmiths. There is a related word for goldsmiths in medieval Latin, but we didn't find any examples of , which would be Latin for "silversmith," in the Middle Ages. Finally, the surname does appear in England (although our earliest record of it only dates to 1235). (4) So even though we don't have direct evidence that is a word for a silversmith, the circumstantial evidence is quite good. A name like would be another good choice. During your period, this name would be likely to appear in Latin as . Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Caterine de Benet, Mari Elsbeth nic Bryan, Talan Gwynek, and Arval Benicoeur contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Your servant, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel November 29, 1999 (1) Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). (2) Catholic Online, "St. Aurelia." (WWW: Catholic Online, 1999). Accessed November 4, 1999.[URL:http://saints.catholic.org/saints/aurelia.html] (3) Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Silver (4) ibid., s.n. Offer