ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2309
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2309
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28 Jun 2001
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wrote asking whether <Margot Wallincourt> or <Margot de Wallincourt>
would be an appropriate name for a Frenchwoman living between 1200-1450.
You also asked for the correct spelling for your period, where the name was
most likely to have been used, and its origin and meaning.

As you noted, <Margot> is found in the 1292 Census of Paris [1].  This is
itself a short form of <Marguerite>, a name ultimately derived from the
Greek word for "pearl" [2].  Although we only have a few examples of
<Margot> in period, it was probably available for most of the period of
time in which you are interested.  It may not have been at all common, but
our sources are spotty enough that we really can't tell.  <Margot> was
pronounced the same way it is now for most of your period, \mar-go\, but
may have been pronounced \mar-GOHT\ in the earliest part of it.


The modern surname <Wallincourt> derives from a place name, probably in
Alsace-Lorraine or Picardy.  The letter 'W' is rare in modern French.  It
is most common in these regions which had the strongest Germanic influence
in the Middle Ages.  The place name <Wallincourt> derived from the Old
Continental Germanic masculine name <Walo> and Latin <-cortis> 'estate'
[3].  We found the following period examples of the name [4]:

     <Walincors> 1058-1129
     <Gualhuncurt> 1104
     <Wallencurt> 1149
     <Walleincurt> ca.1150
     <Wallaincort> 1237. 

Throughout your period, surnames like <de Wallaincort> were quite common.
Toward the end of your period, in much of France, it was not uncommon to
drop the preposition <de> [5].  If you want a name suited for c.1400-1450,
then <Margot Wallaincort> would be just as appropriate as <Margot de
Wallaincort>; in some regions it would have been more likely.

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.  Adelaide de Beaumont,
Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Maridonna
Benvenuti contributed research and/or comments to this letter.

For the Academy,


  AElfwyn aet Gyrwum
  28 June 2001

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References:

[1] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of 
Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: 
Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). 
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html

[2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de 
personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_, 116 (Amiens, 
Musee de Picardie, 1967).

[3] The <n> in the place-name comes from the old possessive form of 
<Walo>; the name meant roughly 'Walo's estate'. 

[4] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de
l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, III:459b - III:460b (Paris:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972).

[5] Dauzat, Albert, _Les Noms de Famille de France_ (Paris: Librairie
Guenegaud, 1988), 136ff.