ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2297 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2297 ************************************ 28 Jun 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wrote asking whether the name would be appropriate for a German man living near Hamelin circa 1260. Specifically you asked whether or should be used rather than . was the Old High German vernacular form as well as the standard Latin form of or ; and it persisted past your period, as shown by the following dated examples we found [1]: Falco 1145, 1185 Falcho 1216 Falko 1401 While might have appeared by 1260, seems likely to be the best choice. does not appear to have been used at all. Although you did not specifically ask about , we thought you might like to know that bynames based on river-names are rare, and the element <-bogen> is extremely unlikely. We found no German place name that includes that element, and only a couple of place names that include at all, and it is unclear whether these names are related to the meaning 'bend in a river'. We did find a town called in Bavaria, however. We don't know exactly what form the name took, although it probably existed: We found a modern reference to men identified as Counts Friedrich and Aswin von Bogen in 1080 [2]. We can't be sure that this is how their names were recorded in period, but it seems likely. We also found a place in Bavaria [1], which at least shows that the element was used in place names. Therefore, we recommend as better recreation than . (Note that we recommend rather than to match the form in our evidence. The two counts evidently lived at a place called rather than at an unnamed bend in a river.) At best, however, this is a very rare name, and so for the best re-creation, we advise picking another one altogether. We'll be glad to help; just write again letting us know what's important to you in selecting a name. 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. Maridonna Benvenuti, Julia de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, Julie Stampnitzky, Talan Gwynek, and Dietmar von Straubing contributed research and/or writing assistance to this letter. For the Academy, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum 28 June 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960) s.n.n. Falk(e), Bogendo"rfer. [2] Kammermaier, Andreas, "Das Kloster Ober Altaich von 1080 bis 1803 und heute" (WWW: Oberalteich online, 1998-2001), accessed 5/5/01. http://www.oberalteich.de/geschichte/klosterkirche/index.html