Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 221

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 221

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/221

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on the name "Lark of Rose Keep" as used in late-period England.

We weren't able to find "Lark" as a given name, although we did find it as a nickname which evolved into the surname "Lark." Although the word "Lark" is quite old, it apparently was never adopted into use as a name given to children. We limited our search to English sources because "Lark" is an English word and would appear as a name in another language only because of a very unlikely coincidence.

"Rose" is found in many English names, although none of the appearances are related to the rose flower. All of them come from words which were originally different but were mutated to "Rose" over time, most commonly "hros" (the Old English for "horse") or from some given name. (1) Still, "Rose" is a reasonable element in a name.

We have never found an example of a place that was actually called "Keep" in medieval England. Castles were generally called castles. "Rose Keep" would not be a plausible placename (although "Rose Castle" would be plausible).

Despite all this bad news, we can suggest a way for you to be called "Lark" and have a medieval name. Just as is the case today, some people were known more widely by their nicknames than their actual given names. We have examples of people who were called "Lark" as a nickname, (2) so you could switch your names around and be "Rose Lark" or "Rose la Lark." (English records from this time generally used the French "la" instead of the English "the," although English was probably used in day-to-day speaking). You could actually use any English given name from the 14th century--"Rose" has been used since 1316 and is perfectly appropriate. (3)

Arval D'Espas Nord, Zenobia Naphtali, Lindorm Eriksson, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Rouland Carre all contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Withycombe, E. "Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names."

(2) Reaney, P. H. & Wilson, E. "Dictionary of British Surnames."

(3) Withycombe