ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2230 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2230 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 28 Mar 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help creating a mid-13th to mid-15th century Breton feminine name, with the saint's name or as your given name. You also asked if we could suggest an appropriate surname, preferably one starting with . Here is the information we have found. By the period that you asked about, the languages spoken in France had gone through various changes. While Brittany in the 11th century still retained a mix of Breton, Frankish, Latin, and Biblical names, by the 16th century, the people of Brittany were basically French in most cultural respects. Many of them spoke Breton and some Breton names continued to be used in the region, but in general they were culturally integrated with the rest of northern France. In particular, their naming practices were generally very similar to those in other parts of northern France. Most Frankish and native Breton names had dropped out of use, while Biblical and saints' names became increasingly popular. We expect that a typical Breton woman of your period would have had a typically French name. [4] Unfortunately, although the name is used in modern times as a feminine name, in period it was only a masculine name. The saint that you found is usually known by the Old Breton form of his name, ; he was a 6th century abbott and saint. [1] Though the masculine name survived in use through at least the 16th century in various spellings, [2] as far as we can tell, was not used by women at any point before 1600. We also have no evidence that the specific spelling was used by either men or women until after our period. By your period, the Breton name pool closely resembled the French name pool. We have extracted feminine names beginning with that are found in the 1292 census of Paris; they would all be appropriate for your name: [3] Galienne Garsille Genevieve Genevote Gennevote Germainne Gersant Gile Gilete Gille Gilleite Gilon Ginnade Gonteut Grace Guibourc Guillemete The Paris census is also a good source for surnames. You can find an extraction from it on-line at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html Most French surnames in your period fell into one of four broad categories: patronymic, occupational, locative, or descriptive. Patronymic bynames identified a person as his father's or mother's child, like 1311. Occupational bynames identifed a person by his occupation, such as "Jehan the Deacon" 1412 or "Perrin diamond" 14th century [*]. A woman was often identified by the occupation of her father or husband. Locative bynames were based either on the name of a place where the person lived, like 1281, or on a description of that place, such as "Aelis from the fountain" 1264. Finally, descriptive bynames were based on some personal characteristic, often physical or behavioral, like "Guillaume Sad" 1276, or "Robert two teeth" 1340. [5] As you see, there are a lot of possibilities. If you can narrow down to one or two ideas, we may be able to suggest some specific names that fit your period. Also, if any of the surnames in the Paris census appeal to you, please feel free to write again to find out what they mean. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28Mar01 ------------- References & Notes: [1] Attwater, David & Catherine Rachel John, _Dictionary of Saints_, 3rd ed., Penguin Books, 1995, ISBN 0-14-051312-4. s.n. Winwaloe [2] Friedemann, Sara L., "Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520" (WWW:Self-published, 1999-2001). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/bordeaux.html [3] 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) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [4] "Le peuplement et la population du pays gue'randais a` la fin du Moyen A^ge et au de'but des temps modernes: l'apport de l'onomastique" by Gildas Buron, in "Onomastique et Histoire, Onomastique Litte'raire" ed. Pierre-Henri Billy & Jacques Chaurand, Publications de 'Universite' de Provence, 1998 [5] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). section 3 [*] This byname was most likely would have been borne by a man who was a diamond merchant.