ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2068 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2068 ************************************ 2 Jun 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether , meaning "John the Dragon of Penmaenmawr", is an appropriate name for a 12th or 13th century Welshman. We aren't sure whether you just want to use a Welsh name, or if you're interested in using both Welsh and English. We'll discuss both. In your period, English and Welsh cultures were inter-mixed in some parts of Wales and along the border between the two nations. It was not at all uncommon for a man to have commerce in both cultures, and thus to be known by an English name to Englishmen and by a Welsh name to Welshmen. However, these names were rarely simply translations of one another. The English and Welsh followed different naming customs in your period, and a man was identified in either language by a name that fit the naming customs of that language. is a modern Welsh spelling of a Welsh adaptation of the English name . The earliest example we've found of this spelling is from 1627, and the earliest evidence we've found of a Welsh name pronounced this way is from the late 15th century [1]. Therefore, this particular name is probably not appropriate for your period. The English is of course an adaptation of the Latin name [3]. That name was borrowed into Welsh directly from Latin long before it was borrowed indirectly via English. The Welsh form of the name in your period was or , pronounced somewhere between \YEH-vahn\ and \YEH-wahn\ [1]. Your English byname is a fine choice for your period. We have found examples of it in the English names 1066, 1221, and 1275. It usually derived from the Anglo-French "standard bearer", though it was also occasionally a nickname [2]. is the exact Welsh translation of [6], but we've never encountered it used as a personal nickname in period. Animal-based nicknames were rare in medieval Welsh. Unfortunately, this is a case where the simple translation of a fine, medieval English name doesn't produce a plausible medieval Welsh name. Note as well that Welsh descriptive nicknames didn't use the definite article . The Welsh used surnames based on place names far less frequently than the English. So while the modern may have existed in the 12th century, a man of that period would probably not have been identified in Welsh as "of Penmaenmawr". In most cases, a man was identified in medieval Welsh as his father's son: "Ieuan son of Gwilim". If he were an Englishman, he might also be known to the Welsh as "Ieuan the English-speaker". The same man might have been known in English as and perhaps on other occasions as or (if he lived at Ruthin). We haven't found an early medieval example of the place name . It was recorded c.1600 as and in 1473 as [4, 5]. We aren't willing to speculate how the name might have been spelled three centuries earlier. If you'd like more information on the construction of medieval Welsh names, we recommend an article on the web: A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 2 Jun 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985), p.136. [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Dragon. [3] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. John. [4] Nicolson, Nigel and Alasdair Hawkyard, eds. _The Counties of Britain: A Tudor Atlas by John Speed_ (Thames and Hudson, 1989). [5] Owen, Hywel Wyn, _The Place-Names of Wales (University of Wales Press, 1998). [6] _Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, several dates).