ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2294
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2294
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23 Apr 2001
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether anything similar to <Rowland Le Strange> is an
appropriate name for a late 15th century Frenchman.  This letter is a brief
answer to your question.

Your given name appears in 13th-15th century French sources as <Roulland>,
<Roland>, <Rolant>, and <Roulant> [1, 2].  Any of those would be a fine
choice for France in your period.  English forms of the name included
<Rowland>, <Rowlande>, and <Roland> [4, 5, 6, 7].

The English surname <Le Strange> originated from an Old French word that
meant "foreign".  Some other late-period English examples of names of this
origin are <Nicholas Lestraunge> 1546-7, <Willelmus Straunge> 1379, and
<William Straunge> 1578 [3].  We haven't found a period example of the
equivalent name in French, but the existence of the modern surname
<Lestrange> suggests that <l'Estrange> was used in your period [8].  We did
find period examples of a similar name based on the noun form of that
adjective, <Jehan l'Estrannier> 1438 [9].

<Roulant l'Estrannier> is a fine choice for 15th century France.  <Roulant
l'Estrange> is not quite as well documented, but we're confident it is also
appropriate for your period.  <Roulant> was pronounced \roo-law~`n\, with a
nasal vowel in the second syllable [10].  <l'Estrannier> was pronounced
\lay-trah-nyay\ and <l'Estrange> was \lay-traw~zh\.  In both forms of the
surname, the <s> is silent; in the latter, the vowel in the last syllable
is nasalized.

If you decide to keep your late-period English persona, then <Rowland
Lestraunge> would be an exemplary name.  This surname was pronounced
roughly \ROW-lahnd l@-STROUNDJ\.  \OW\ here is pronounced like the word
<owe>, while \OU\ stands for the vowel in <ouch>.  \@\ represents the sound
of the <a> in <about> and <soda>.


We hope this brief letter has been useful.  Please write us again if you
have any questions.  I was assisted in researching and writing this letter
by Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, and Juliana de
Luna.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  23 Apr 2001


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References

[1] Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Talan Gwynek, "Names Found in Commercial
Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520" (WWW: privately published, 2000). 
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/bordeaux.html

[2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de
personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de
Picardie, 1967), p.19.

[3] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.nn. Strange,
L'Estrange.

[4] Talan Gwynek, unpublished research in 16th century London baptismal
records. 

[5] Julian Goodwyn, "English Names from pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions" (WWW:
J. Mittleman, 1997). 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/brasses/

[6] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Given Names in Chesham, 1538-1600/1" (WWW:
J. Mittleman, 1999). 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/chesham/

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

[8] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et
Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Lestrange.

[9] Morlet, pp. 76, 417.

[10] A nasal vowel is one pronounced through the nose.  In the French of
your period, the \r\ sound was trilled with the tip of the tongue, not at
the back of the mouth as in modern French.