ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2269 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2269 ************************************ From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 16 Mar 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked if is an appropriate name for a woman, possibly of German descent, living in England between 1100 and 1350. Here is the information we have found. is a form of , a late period English name probably derived from the Old German name [1]. The fact that its roots are Germanic does not mean that the name is more likely in Germany. We have found no evidence of any form of in use in Germany during your period, and since your byname is clearly English, we'll focus our efforts on that naming pool. We find recorded in France in the 9th-10th centuries [2], but we have no citations of the name in England. The first example of any form of the name that we find in England is in a poem by Edmund Spenser, published in 1579 [3]. It was later used by Shakespeare in "As You Like It" (published 1599) and probably became popular as a result of the popularity of the play [1]. We do not believe that any form of the name was used in England during your period, and accordingly we recommend that you choose another name. An unrelated but similar-sounding name, , is found in England during your period, but only as a masculine name; it is an Old French double diminutive from the Germanic name [4]. Based on other similarly-constructed names, we do not think it is impossible that a feminine form, possibly or , might exist, but we have found no evidence of such a name and therefore cannot recommend it as a good recreation [5]. There is another choice that might interest you. The name comes from similar Germanic roots as [6]; we find it recorded in England during your period in the following forms [6, 7]: Rosamond 1282 Rosamunda 1205, 1206, 1207, 1273 Rosemunda 1303 The form is probably more commonly used in Latin written documents; we would expect the spoken English form to be more like , pronounced \ROH-z@-mohnd\, with a secondary stress on the final syllable. Here \OH\ is the sound of in , and \@\ represents the sound of in and . The byname is an excellent choice for your period. It is an occupational byname for a person who saws wood; it is very likely that the wife or daughter of a sawyer would also be known by that byname. We find the following forms recorded in your period [8]: le Sagyere c1248 le Sayhare, le Sawyere, le Saweare 1270 le Sawier' 1278 [9] le Sagher 1324 le Saghiere 1327 Any of these forms would be appropriate for your use, despite the fact that they use the masculine article . We have examples of women from your period whose bynames were recorded using , so it was obviously done; the feminine article would also be appropriate [10, 11]. In summary, or is an excellent name for an Englishwoman living between 1100 and 1350; is not impossible, but we cannot recommend it as the best recreation. 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 Adsiltia filia Honorii, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 16 March 2001 References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Rosalind. Withycombe remarks that the precise form is Spanish in origin; we have not found any pre-1600 examples of in Spain. It is possible that is strictly a modern form; although the late English forms and might have been recorded in Latin documents as , we find no such citations. [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972), I:139b, gives the examples , probably 9th or 10th c., and 916. These are Latinized forms; they probably reflect a spoken form of or . [3] Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender (London & New York:[Chiswick Press for] Harper & Brothers, 1898, originally published 1579). The entry for January begins: "Colin clout a shepheardes boy complaineth him of his vnfortunate loue, being but newly (as semeth) enamoured of a countrie lasse called Rosalinde...." [4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Rosling. [5] Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Aslin. and its variants are given as Old French double diminutives from the Germanic name ; they cite both masculine and feminine forms of the given name. [6] Withycombe, s.n. Rosamund. [7] Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Roseman [8] Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Sawyer [9] An apostrophe was frequently used in period documents to represent an abbreviation; in this case, there was probably an on the end of the name. [10] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "An Index to the 1332 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Lincolnshire, England" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/mari/LincLSR/], various entries, including and . [11] Franklin, Peter, _The Taxpayers of Medieval Gloucestershire: An Analysis of the 1327 Lay Subsidy Roll with a New Edition of its Text_ (Dover, NH: Alan Sutton Publishing Inc, 1993), various entries including (p. 56) and (p. 50).