ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2115
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2115
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From: "Sara L Friedemann" 
23 Oct 2000

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Kyla de Eastbourne> would have been used as an
Englishwoman's name between 1000 and 1600.  Here is the information we have
found.

As far as we can tell, <Kyla> is a modern name formed as a feminine of
<Kyle>, or perhaps as a variant of <Kylie>. [1,2]  We were unable to find
it, or anything similar, in any of our medieval English name sources.  If
you would like to consider other possibilities for your given name, we
recommend you browse the articles listed here:

   http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/english.shtml

Depending on when you decide to set your persona, some of the articles may
be more or less useful.

There were two towns that could have given rise to your choice for surname,
<Eastburn> in Yorkshire, and <Eastbourne> in Sussex.  We find surnames based
on the former city spelled as <de Esteburne> in c.1200 and 1304, while we
find the Sussex city spelled as <Estburn> in 1279. [3,4]  We doubt that the
modern spelling <Eastbourne> was used before the 16th century, and even then
<Estbourne> would be a more likely spelling.

In the earlier part of your period, a surname based on a place name would
have included the preposition <de>, meaning "of," like <Lucia de Esteburne>.
Toward the end of your period, the preposition would not have been used, as
in <Lucy Estbourne>.

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
Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Maridonna Benvenuti, Adelaide de
Beaumont, Arval Benicouer, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, and Dietmar von
Straubing.

For the Academy,
~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 23Oct00

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References:

[1] Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges, _A Dictionary of First Names_ (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1990). s.n. Kyla

[2] Dunkling, Leslie and William Gosling, _The New American Dictionary of
First Names_ (New York: Signet Books, 1983). s.n. Kyla

[3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Eastburne

[4] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_,
4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991). s.n. Eastbourne