ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2292
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2292
************************************

11 May 2001
From: Judith Phillips 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us whether <Bernwald>, meaning "bear-keeper", is an authentic 
German name for the period between 900 and 1600.  Here is the information 
we found.

Choosing a name by its meaning is a minefield.  Most names derive from very 
ancient roots which had no apparent meaning to anyone by the Middle 
Ages.  Consider the name <Thomas>, for example.  It derives from an Aramaic 
root that meant "twin", but one would hardly expect a man named <Thomas> 
today to be a twin.  That was equally true in the medieval world.  There 
are some exceptions, names that were created late enough that their 
meanings would have been apparent to people in your period; but even these 
names quickly lost their "meaning" and were just used as names. It's 
obvious to us, for example, that the name <Heather> is identical to the 
word <heather>, but we don't expect a woman named <Heather> to be 
grey-green and bushy.

We can certainly tell you the etymological roots of most names, but it's a 
mistake to think that they would have had any significance to the people 
who used those names in the Middle Ages.

<Bernwald> is a compound name formed from the name elements <Bern-> and 
<-wald>.  These are historically related to Germanic words for 'bear' and 
'leader, commander', respectively.  It is likely that the prehistoric 
ancestor of this name actually meant something like 'bear-like leader', but 
by your period the name was simply a name.

<Bernwald>, also spelled <Bernwalt>, appears to have existed as a German 
given name very early in your period [1].  During most of your period, the 
<w> had largely dropped out, and the typical spelling was something like 
<Bernold>. We found the following examples:

      Bernaldus 890 [2]
      Barnoaldus 899 [2]
      Bernoldus 1102 [2]
      Bernoldus von Staufen 1208 [1]
      Bernolt von Bernhausen 1420 [1]
      Hugo dictus Bernoltz pellifex 1242 [3]
      Heinr. dictus Bernold 1256 [1]
      dictus Bernolt textor 1290 (or early 14th c.) [3]
      Ulr. Pernolt v. dem Berg 1404 [1]
      Irmendrut uxor Bernoldi 1289 [3]

There is a similar name <Bernward> whose etymology is much closer to your 
desired meaning of "bear-keeper", although it would not have been 
understood that way in your period.  Our examples include:

      Bernewardus 855 [2]
      Bernoardus 952 [2]
      Bernwardus 1271 [3]
      Berwardus 1272 [3]
      Barwardus> 1291 [3]
      Berwart (probably 13th c.) [3]
      Johannes dictus Bernwart 1265 [3]
      J. dictus Berward (late 13th or 14th c.) [3]

Quite a number of other names were constructed from the element <Bern->  in 
the various Germanic languages.  <Bernard>, which you mentioned in your 
letter, originated as an Old French form of another of them, <Bernhard> [4].

I hope that this letter has been useful to you.  Please feel free to 
contact us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have any 
further questions.  I was assisted in writing this letter by Maridonna 
Benvenuti, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Dietmar von Straubing, Adelaide 
de Beaumont, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Julie Stampnitzky, Hartmann Rogge and 
Juliana de Luna.

For the Academy,

Adeliza de Saviniaco
11 May 2001

---------------------------------

References:

[1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der 
deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 
1957-1960).s.n. Bern(h)old.

[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). v. I p. 54a.

[3] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen 
Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; 
Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966). p. 132.

[4] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 
3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Bernard.