ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2032 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2032 ************************************ 30 Mar 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an 11th century Anglo-Norman man. This letter is a brief answer to your question. It's a fine choice, though not in that spelling. The name derives from the Old French word "courteous", and was used both as a given name and byname (nickname) in that period. We found English examples 1130, 1200, as well as 1166 and 1168. We don't know for certain that the name was used in Normandy around 1066, but it's a reasonable likelihood, since it was used by Normans in England by 1130 [1]. The name was pronounced \kur-TAYS\, with the second syllable rhyming with . Your husband thus has a choice: He can pick an appropriate given name and use or as a byname, or he could use as his given name and pick an appropriate byname. You can find a list of appropriate given names on the web: A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272 http://members.xoom.com/nicolaa/names.html Note that the spellings of some of these names have been modernized. If your husband picks one or two names that he likes, we can provide a list of 11th or 12th century spellings. If he'd prefer to use as a given name, then we can offer an article on medieval bynames that he may find useful: A Brief Introduction to Medieval Bynames http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/bynames/ We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 30 Mar 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Curtis.