ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2214 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2214 ************************************ From: "Sara" 9 Jan 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help forming an authentic 14th century French name for your wife, noting that she was interested in the given names , , and , and a surname that would be appropriate for the wife of a man surnamed
  • . Here is the information we have found. All three of the names your wife is interested in are found in the 1292 census of Paris. [1] They are fine choices, and pronounced as follows: Caterine \kah-t@-REE-n@\ Cateline \kah-t@-LEE-n@\ Emelisse \em-@-LEES-s@\ In these pronunciations, the \@\ represents the sound of in and , and the vowel \EE\ should be kept short in duration, and not be drawn out. Women in your period often took surnames derived from their husband's surnames. We find examples of this practice as early as the early 13th century. [2] For a woman married to a man surnamed
  • , the feminine form of the byname, either or , would be appropriate. We hope that this letter has been useful, and that you will not hestitate to write again if you have any further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 09Jan01 ------------- 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] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). pp. 35-37