Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 198

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 198

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/198

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's the information we found on the Dutch name "Brandewijn."

The name "Brandewijn," meaning "brandywine," was not used as a given name in period Dutch as far as we can tell. However, it would be a reasonable late- period surname. The word "Brandewijn" existed in Dutch by 1536 and may have been invented 50 years before that, although the evidence is unclear. (1) It could have been used in late period as a name for someone who made brandy.

We think that "Brandwin," and perhaps "Brandwijn," would be reasonable for earlier period, but only as a male name. We know that "Brand-" was used as a first element in Germanic male names used in the area, and that "-win" was used as a second element (2). There is no reason they could not have been combined to form "Brandwin." It's possible, but not certain, that "wijn" could have been used as a variant form--one of our sources lists "-wijn" as a variant of "win," but doesn't date or explain the reference. (3) Thus we can't be sure that it was actually done in the Middle Ages.

Unfortunately this isn't all that helpful, since your friend is looking for a women's name. We would recommend finding a Dutch women's first name and using that with the surname "Brandewijn." Unfortunately we don't have any sources which specifically address your needs, but you can look at histories from the period. We will see if we can find sources for appropriate names as well.

Walraven van Nijmege, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Willem Gerritsz, and Arval D'Espas Nord contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel