ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2217 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2217 ************************************ 17 Apr 2001 From: Dietmar Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel. You asked whether or are suitable names for an inhabitant of the Cornwall-Devonshire area of England in the 13th to 15th centuries. Here is what we have found. Most documents in England in your period were written in Latin. Personal names were sometimes completely translated into Latin, sometimes partly translated, and sometimes recorded in the vernacular (spoken) languages. The spoken languages of England at the beginning of your period included Norman French and Middle English. By the end of your period, nearly everyone spoke English. is a Latin form of , which was a very popular name throughout your time period. The letters and were interchangeable. Spellings from your period, dated ca.1275 - 1308, include [1, 4, 6]: Johannes (Latin) Johan John Joan Jon Jan You wrote that you believe the name originated in Cornwall. We found no evidence that this was so. (This belief may have been prompted by the legendary Cornish king Mark.) We found three origins for the modern surname : the Old English topographic term "boundary"; the French place name , in Pas-de-Calais; and the given name or [1, 2, 4]. The forms you asked about, and , are based on descriptions of a place, so we focussed on the Old English root. Examples of Middle English bynames derived from include [1, 2, 4]: del Merc 1208 de la Merke 1227 atte Merke 1296 a la Merce' 1279-80 de la Merc' 1279-80 In these examples, the prepositional phrase tells us that the byname was used to refer to a place: Each one means "at the boundary". The French prepositions , , and are equivalent to the Middle English . English naming customs changed significantly from 1200 to 1500, so no single form of your name is appropriate for the entire period. French forms like may have been used in speech around 1200, but probably not much later. The English , pronounced \AH-t@ MAIRK-@\, is a good choice for most of your period. By the last half of the 15th century, in most of England, the preposition tended to drop out of surnames like this one, so we'd expect the simpler or , pronounced \MAIRK\. However, the southwest seems to have been a bit behind the times: in many parts of Devon topographical bynames with (also spelled and ) remained in use through the end of the 15th century [5]. 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 Adelaide de Beaumont, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, Arval Benicoeur, Juliana de Luna, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. Dietmar von Straubing 17 April, 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.nn. John, Mark, March. [2] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). s.n. March [3] Some typical examples are the names , , , , , , , , and , all from Margaret L. Midgley, ed., _Ministers' Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall 1296-1297_, Vol. I, Camden Third Series, Vol. LXVI (London: Royal Historical Society, 1942), p.127. (All names have been restored to the nominative case.) [4] John, Trevor, ed., _The Warwickshire Hundred Rolls of 1279-80: Stoneleigh and Kineton Hundreds_, Records of Social and Economic History New Series XIX, publ. for The British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1992; p.41 [5] David Postles, _The Surnames of Devon_, English Surname Series VI (Oxford: Leopard's Head Press, 1995), 30ff [6] Brault, Gerald J., _The Rolls of Arms of Edward I_, Aspilogia III, vol. 1, (London: Boydell Press, 1997).