ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2080 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2080 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 6 May 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would have been used by a Frenchman living in the late 16th century. Here is the information we have found. The normal medieval French form of the name is ; we find it in France throught the Middle Ages. [1,2] is a fine name for your period. is the name of a historical region of France. [3] The surname means "of Valois." Though this surname was associated with the ruling family of , we find no evidence that it was restricted to the royal family; is a perfectly reasonable choice for a name. We hope that this brief 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 Talan Gwynek, Raquel Buenaventura, Arval Benicoeur, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 06May00 --------------------------------------- References: [1] 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]. [2] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). s.n. Chre/tien [3] Britannica Online (WWW: Accessed May 21, 1998) s.v. Valois