ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1911 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1911 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 18 Jan 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if could have been used by a daughter of a 16th century French Huguenot woman surnamed . Here is the information we have found. is a variant of , a feminine form of . [1] It is found in Foix in the 14th century. [2] While we have no specific later examples of it, there was a modern saint in the 19th century, so it is reasonable to believe that the name continued in use in your period. [1] is a widespread modern surname. (The slash represents an accent over the previous letter). It was originally an occupational byname for a farrier, spelled . We find it as in Paris in 1292. We believe is a fine surname for your period. [2] We believe, though, that it is unlikely that a 16th century Frenchwoman would have shared her mother's surname; rather, she would have shared her father's surname. Our research suggests that children did usually inherit their father's surnames in that period, but that women's didn't adopt their husband's surnames upon marriage. However, we should balance this opinion by noting that we have very little data from 16th century France. 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, Africa filia Kennoci, Arval Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Amant le Marinier, Juliana de Luna, Adeliza de Saviniaco, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael January 18, 2000 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). s.n. Bernard, Mare/chal [2] Cateline de la Mor, "Names from Fourteenth Century Foix" (SCA: Trimarian Known World Heraldic Symposium, AS XXIX; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/foix.html].