ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2239 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2239 ************************************ 16 Apr 2001 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if or would be an appropriate name for an Englishwoman living between 1200 and 1350. Here is the information we have found. Your choice of name is perfect. is a pet form of the name , and is found several times in your period. We find an example of as a given name in 1277, plus other indirect evidence that it was used throughout the 13th century [1]. Your choice of surname is excellent: is found in 1290 and in 1327. [2] The use of the French article indicates that both of these spellings were most likely documentary, written forms. In speech, the would most likely be the English . In either case, both surnames mean "in the willows." During the time you are interested in, the name would have been pronounced \MOH-l@ i(n)-dh@ WIL-@-w@s\ or \WEL-w@s\, with the \OH\ like the vowel in , and the \@\ representing the sound of in or . The symbol (n) indicates that the \n\ is lightly pronounced, perhaps reduced to nasalization of the preceding vowel. 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 were provided by Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, Aryanhwy merch Catmael 15 Apr 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). The other examples, dated 1216-72 and ca.1250, is used as a surname, almost certianly meaning that the person's mother's name was named . http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/reaney/ [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Willows.