ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1956 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1956 ************************************ 7 Mar 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a late 14th century man from a Germanic culture. Here is what we have found. "Germanic" is a much mis-used word, properly referring to a family of languages that includes German, Dutch, English, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, among others. Many names are found in cognate forms in several Germanic languages and names were sometimes adapted into one language from another, but they weren't interchangeable. Unfortunately, the elements of the name you asked about are drawn from different languages and couldn't have been combined in period. Regardless of the origin of his parents, a man's name was rendered entirely in one language: In the Netherlands, his name was written in Dutch; in Germany, in German. is a Dutch form of which we've found recorded in Bruges in the 15th century and in 1551 [1]. It is probably appropriate for your period, too, and probably also appropriate in westernmost Germany, near modern Belgium, where there is a modern town . We haven't found this spelling of used further east in period Germany, and we don't think it's likely to have been used there. German forms that we have found include: 1383, 1387; 1390; 1388; 1414; and 1343, 1382, 1397 [2]. is an Old English name, used in that form only until the 11th century and not used in any form after the late 13th century. Unless you decide that you want an English name much earlier than the period you asked about, we recommend you choose some other name [3]. We have found no evidence of this name outside England. You might be interested in the name , the most common German cognate of Old English . We found it spelled in Silesia in 1296 [2]. The name also has a Dutch cognate, , which we've found recorded in 1281 [4]. We think this spelling probably wasn't used as late as the late 14th century; we recommend instead. We also found a couple other similar Dutch names, and , both recorded in Bruges in the mid- to late-15th century [1]. Middle names (or double given names) were extremely rare in Germanic languages in your period. In the 14th century, the name or would have been understood to be a single given name plus a surname identifying the man's father. That is to say, would have meant "Mertyn, son of Wolfger". This was a rather common style of naming in Germany and the Low Countries in your period. There are several German places called . Historically, this is a variant spelling of . We found a few examples of period surnames derived from these placenames in various spellings: 1330, 1334, 1331 [5]. is an adjective that means "man from Hillinsheim"; this sort of adjective was commonly use as a surname in your period. is a fine name for your period; is another way to say the same thing. Close to the Lowlands, the same name might also have been written . Most of the time when a man's name was written down in your culture, the scribe recorded only one surname; but double surnames are found occasionally. For example, we find 1374, whose name meant "Amelung, son of Amelung, from Barfelde". Other similar examples include 1429, 1383-1403, and 1448 [6]. , meaning "Mertyn, son of Wolfger, from Hillinsheim", is a reasonable German name for your period. 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, Hartmann Rogge, Amant le Marinier, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 7 Mar 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Luana de Grood, "Flemish Given Names from Bruges, 1400-1600", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/ [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1998). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/bahlow_v.htm [3] was recorded about the year 800 in the form [Boehler, Maria. Die altenglischen Frauenamen (Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Krauss Reprint, 1967 [1930]); p. 132]. In Domesday Book, which was written in the later 11th century, it appears as and [von Feilitzen, Olof. The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book Latin grammatical endings are often added to these basic forms, but they needn't concern us at the moment.) Notice that the has disappeared. We don't find the in any later citations either, so we assume that by the later 11th century the name had come to be pronounced \WOOL-g@r\, where \@\ is the sound of the in or and \WOOL\ is like the word . This is also the pronunciation represented by the latest examples of the name that we could find, and , both from 1258. [4] (It seems that the name died out by about the end of the 13th century.) At any rate the specific Old English form seems to appropriate only up to the middle of the 11th century; after that a Middle English form like would be appropriate as long as the name survived. [4] Debrabandere, F., _Kortrijkse Naamkunde 1200-1300, met een kumulatief familienamenregister_, Anthrophonymica XXII (Leuven : Instituut voor Naamkunde : Peeters, 1980), pp.101, 209. [5] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.nn. Hillesheimer, Hildesheim(er), Hillsheim(er). [6] Zoder, R., _Familiennamen in Ostfalen_. 2 vols. (Hildesheim: 1968), pp. 28, 30, 47.