ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1947 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1947 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 9 Feb 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if , meaning, "Aeddan the big, son of Nudd," would be an appropriate Welsh name for a man living between 1250 and 1400. You also asked about the arms "Argent, a tower sable, on a chief azure three billets argent." Here is the information we have found. is a Welsh borrowing of the Gaelic name . (The slashes represent accents over the previous letters.) The name appears in Welsh records in the 8th-10th centuries as and , and in the 14th century in the Latin form . [1,2] is a modern spelling of the name; we do not recommend you use it, as we have no evidence that it was used in your period. would be a fine choice for your given name. , meaning "big, senior," was a common nickname. When used in a name, the initial letter lenites, or softens, from to , to create the form or , which we find in the 14th century. [2] is the most typical form of the word "son" recorded in this period, although specifically Welsh records, as opposed to ones written in Anglo-Norman, also use or . [2] The name is most commonly encountered in Welsh myth and legend, where it is used for various supernatural figures like the in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen. However, we have found examples of historical people using this name, including a 9th century bishop . We haven't found examples later than the 11th century, though, so we hesitate to recommend it for your period. [3] If you would like to choose a different name for your father, we recommend the following article on 13th century Welsh names: "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html To conclude, a name construction such as is a fine choice for your period, though we recommend you consider a name other than for your father. Your choice of arms is excellent. Your design is fine style for your period, and we found no arms registered with the SCA that are similar enough to cause you any problem. 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Rouland Carre, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 09Feb00 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Aidan [2] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985). s.n. Aeddan [3] Bartrum, Peter C., _A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in history and legend up to about A.D. 1000_. (Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales, 1993). under Nudd