Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 196

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 196

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/196

This is one of the Academy's earliest reports. We are not confident that these early reports are accurate. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here is the information we found on the name "Alida."

We weren't able to find any period reference for the name "Alida." The earliest reference we found was a woman named "Alida de Wandelaer." (1) Her date of birth is unknown, but she was married in 1714. Based on a Web search for the name "Alida," it would appear that it is primarily a Dutch name.

However, it's unlikely that most of the people named "Alida" were given the name because they wore fine clothing. Even though most given names can be traced back to some original "meaning," that meaning usually isn't the reason a name is given. In the modern world, people give names because they sound nice, or to commemorate someone from the past ("naming a baby after" someone). It's relatively rare that names are given because they have a specific meaning, and this has been true in most European cultures.

You're more likely to find what you want in a byname. Before people had fixed surnames, two people with the same name were distinguished by various traits--just as we might informally call two friends "Big Dave" and "Small Dave." Different cultures used different methods for developing bynames, but many cultures used descriptive terms.

We would suggest deciding on a culture in which you want to look for a name first. Once you've done that, we can look for a byname that means "wears fine clothing" and an appropriate given name. If you'd like suggestions for cultures, you may want to read "Under-Represented SCA Cultures," on the Academy Web page at

http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/cultures.html

We hope this has been helpful, and we hope that we will be able to continue working with you.

Pedro de Alcazar and Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed to this letter.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) http://www.rt66.com/~mconinéd0001/g0000017.htm#I227