ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1895
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1895
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24 Jan 2000
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked our help choosing a name appropriate for a late 11th century
Cordoban woman, the daughter of a Berber and his Spanish concubine.  You
asked particularly about the given name <Maryam> and a byname meaning "the
short" in Arabic, and you asked what sort of surnames Arabs used in your
period.  Here is what we have found.

Based on our research, we believe that a woman living in Muslim culture in
your period would have used an Arabic name, regardless of her religion or
parentage.

<Maryam> is a fine choice.  It is a transliteration of an Arabic name that
appears in medieval Andalusian records and in other period Arabic sources.
We found an example of the name from Sevilla after 1009: <Maryam bint Abi
Ya'qub al-Faysuli al-Silbi al-Hayya> [2, 3].

Women in your period were most often known either as their father's
daughters or their son's mothers.  Maryam, daughter of Hassan and mother of
Rashid, could have been called <Maryam bint Hassan> or <Umm Rashid Maryam>.

However, we have found examples of women's names that included other types
of bynames.  For example, some women were known by the places where they
lived: <'A'isha al-Andalusiyya> "'A'isha the Andalusian".  You might be
particularly interested in the byname <al-Qurtubiyya> "the Cordoban woman"
[1].  We aren't sure whether a woman of your period would have used a
byname like "the short", so we can't recommend that choice as the best
re-creation.  Lord Sion Andreas' translation <al-Qasiirah> is probably
correct Arabic for your period, but may not be appropriate as a woman's
name.

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 Juliana de Luna, Pedro de
Alcazar, Amant le Marinier, and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  24 Jan 2000


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References

[1] Juliana de Luna, "Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain", unpublished
article based on Manuela Mari/n, _Estudios Onoma/stico-biogra/ficos de
al-Andalus_, 8 volumes (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Cienti/ficas, Instituto de Filologi/a, Departmento de Estudios Arabes,
1988-1997).

[2] Da'ud ibn Auda, "A List of Arabic Women's Names" (WWW: Academy of
Saint Gabriel, 1996).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/arabicwomen.html

[3] Avila, Maria Luisa, "Las mujeres "sabis" en al-Andalus," in _La Mujer
en al-Andalus: Reflejos histo/ricos de su actividad y categori/as sociales_
(ed. Maria Viguera), Ediciones de la Universidad Auto/noma de Madrid,
Madrid, 1985.