ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1986 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1986 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 31 Mar 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help for a shire member, who wanted to use , "Marina of the silk house," or "Marina the magpie," as an Italian feminine name between 1250 and 1450. Here is the information we have found. While is a common Italian feminine name in modern times, it was apparently rarer in period. We find only one period example of , in 13th century Perugia, as well as a in Florence in 1427. [1,2] It is a fine, though unusual, name for your shire member's period. The surname is unlikely for a number of reasons. The preposition should be , not . While both prepositions mean "of" in Italian, they are used in different circumstances; is used to form patronymic surnames (surnames based on the father's name), and is used to form locative surnames (surnames based on a location). We were also unable to find any place called and do not believe that it is a likely Italian place name. The phrase "of the silk house" doesn't correspond to any style of Italian surname formation that we've encountered. If your friend would like a surname that implies that her family traded in silk, we can suggest a possibility: or both derive from words that mean "silk maker" or "silk mercer." "of the silk mercers" would be a reasonable surname for your friend. [4] Some form of is also a fine choice. The modern surname derived from "the magpie", based on the soutern and central Italian dialectal word [3]. The Venetian form of that word is (which sometimes refers to other species of bird, as well), and there is a Venetian surname derived from it, [3]. would be a fine late-period Venetian surname; or would be good choices for the early part of your friend's period. 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 Juliana de Luna, Raquel Buenaventura, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 31Mar00 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/perugia/]. [2] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/catasto]. [3] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei cognomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978). s.n. Pica [4] Fucilla, Joseph G., _Our Italian Surnames_ (Evanston, IL: Chandlers' Inc., 1949). p. 172