ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1819
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1819
************************************

24 Oct 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Raquel Buenaventura> is an appropriate name for a Jewish
woman living in Castile in the mid-15th or early-16th century.  Here is
what we have found.

The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.  Many of them re-settled in
communities around the Mediterranean, no doubt carrying their naming
practices with them.  If you're interested in a name appropriate to one of
those communities, let us know and we'll try to find out more about it for
you; in the mean time, we'll assume you want a name for a Spanish Jew
between 1450 and 1492.

We do not have an example of <Raquel> in Spain in your period.  There is a
Jewish woman of that name in the 12th century poem "El Cid" and the name
shows up occasionally in other medieval Jewish communities.  However, the
majority of Jewish women in your period used non-Hebrew names, and <Rachel>
appears to have been one of the less popular Hebrew names [1, 2, 3].  It is
not implausible for your period, but we can't recommend it as the best
choice.

If you'd like to consider other names that might be more appropriate for
your period, let us know and we'll try to put together a list for you.  In
general, we have found that Jewish women in Christian Spain tended to use
names that were also common in the Christian community; so you could pick a
name from one of our articles on Spanish names.  You can find them at:

    http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/iberian.html

In particular, we recommend our article on Spanish Jewish names:

    http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/juliana/iberian-jewish/

The name <Juan de Buenaventura> appears in 16th century Castilian records.
We have no reason to think that he is Jewish, but it does show that the
name is probably a good choice for your period.  Dropping the preposition
<de> is not a problem in your period [4].


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Pedro de Alcazar, Talan Gwynek, Mari
Elsbeth nic Bryan, and Juliana de Luna.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  24 Oct 1999


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References

[1] _Poem of the Cid_, ed. Ramo/n Mene/ndez Pidal, trans. W. S.  Merwin
(New York, Meridian, 1975 [1959]).

[2] Shatzmiller, Joseph, "Le Monde Juif", pp.87-96 in Bourin, Monique,
Jean-Marie-Martin, and Francois Menant, eds., _L'Anthroponymie: Document de
l'Histoire Sociale des Mondes Me/diterrane/ens Me/die/vaux_, Collection de
l'E/cole Franc,aise de Rome, 226 (Rome: E/cole Franc,aise de Rome, 1996).
The author cites <Rachel> in medieval France.

[3] Eleazar ha-Levi, "Jewish Naming Convention in Angevin England" (WWW:
SCA, Inc., 1997).  
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/jewish.html

[4] 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).