ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2013 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2013 ************************************ From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 14 May 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if the name or would be appropriate for a French woman living between 500 and 1500. Here is what we have found. During the thousand-year period you asked about, the languages spoken in France underwent enormous changes. Names and naming practices changed, too, so it is impossible to choose one name that would be appropriate for your entire period. We will give you several suggestions; if you would like more information related to a narrower time period, please write us again. is a late 16th century English diminutive of , most likely borrowed from the Italian . [1] In France, we find only the form until the 9th - 10th centuries, when diminutives first appear in records. The forms , , and were recorded in the 9th and 10th centuries; appears in 1067. [2] Saint Julitta was extremely popular in France (along with her son, Saint Cyricus, rendered in French as St. Cyr), and this form of the name became accordingly popular. We find another diminutive, , recorded in Paris in 1292. [3] Since we find diminutives with the suffix -ete as well as -ote for the same period, we believe that would also be plausible. The form most common in modern use, , probably dates from the 15th century, when we find other diminutives with the suffix -ette. [4] We have not found any information about the surname in France in your period. We did find information about the French surname , which arose independently from several sources. The earliest source seems to be , meaning "granary", developed from the Latin word , a derivative of , "grain". We find it recorded in a "Livre des metiers" ("Book of Trades") in 1268 [5] but it may actually have existed in this form as early as the 12th century.[6] Someone who owned or lived near a granary might have been called , or . Another possible source for is a location. The city of Graignes was referred to in Latin records dated 1332 as .[7] We do not know when the city was first known by this name, but we believe would be a plausible byname in Latin records for the 13th and 14th centuries, and possibly earlier. or would be appropriate, as these forms of are found in Latin records. If you prefer a 13th or 14th century name recorded in French, would be appropriate for a woman who lived near a granary or who was the wife or daughter of someone with that byname. For the 15th century, we recommend ; for this period the surname would most likely be inherited. We hope this information is useful to you. Please do not hesitate to write again if any part has been unclear, or if you require further information. I was assisted in researching this letter by Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, Julie Stampnitzky and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 14 May 2000 References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Juliet. [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1968, 1972, 1985), II:67. [3] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997) [URL:http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html], accessed 14 May 2000. [4] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/ latefrenchfem/], accessed 14 May 2000. [5] Greimas, Algirdas Julien, _Dictionnaire de l'ancien franc,ais_ (Paris: Larousse, 1997), s.v. grenage. [6] Robert, Paul, _Le Petit Robert 1: Dictionnaire alphabe/tique et analogique de la langue franc,ais_ (Paris: Le Robert, 1985), s.v. grenier. [7] Morlet, op. cit., III:101a.