ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2267 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2267 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 16 Apr 2001 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a man living in the Berlin/Brandenburg region of Germany between 1400 and 1550. Here is what we've found. We were unable to find the spelling in Germany, though we did find in 15th century Plauen [1]. The short form of the name, , was more common; this spelling is found in 1546 in Silesia. It is also found as in 15th century Arnsburg and in 1496, in Mecklenburg north of Berlin [1, 2, 4]. is a late-period form of a surname originally from the given name . The surname went through various spelling changes throughout your period; the forms we found are as follows: [3] Richart 1396 Reichart 1403 Richard 1442, 1564 Reichardt 1452 Reichard 1571 The spelling was popular from Wuerttemberg to east Prussia (i.e., from the southwest of Germany to the far northeast) since about 1500 [3]. While the surname originally meant "son of Richhart" and was used literally, by your period it would most likely have become an inherited surname and simply mean that your father's surname was also . In summary, we can recommend as a fine name for the time and region you want to re-create. is also a good choice, though the full form of the given name was not as common. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter were provided by Arval Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, and Hartmann Rogge. For the Academy, Aryanhwy merch Catmael 15 Apr 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period German Masculine Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germmasc/ [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.nn. Reichard, Reichert. [4] Engel, Franz. Die Mecklenburgischen Kaiserbederegister von 1496. Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 56 (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1968). p. 134. ----- Correction, Arval, Oct 2005: Note [3] was incorrect.