ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2337 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2337 ************************************ 19 Jul 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the double given name is appropriate for a Venetian women living between 1450 and 1550, and you asked about the two surnames and . Here is what we have found. Double given names were not uncommon in Italy in your period; but in our experience, they tended to be compounds involving at least one common name, typically a saint's name and most often as the first element. Thus, we would consider typical and unsurprising, but unlikely. Our sources on late-period Italian names aren't good enough to make an absolute statement one way or the other, but our best advice is to choose one given name or the other. Both and were used in Florence in your period [6]; at least in modern usage, is common in the region of Venice, so it's a slightly better choice for your given name [1]. You asked if it were possible to insert a word into this name so that it means "Serena the sweet". That's certainly possible -- either or simply could be understood that way [1] -- but by your period, such descriptive nicknames were rare, at least in formal usage. It's possible you might have been identified that way informally; in a formal setting or in writing, you'd be identified by your father's family name (just as you are in the modern world). By your period, northern Italians used family surnames much as we do today. The surname is an excellent choice. As you found, it was recorded in 14th century Venice; and it is still common in that region today [2, 3]. At least in modern Italian, the word can refer to the seashore as well as the shore of another body of water. An alternative is or , which is related to the modern Italian word for "beach, seashore" [4]. Both undoubtedly existed in your period, but we don't have a dated example and we don't have any evidence that either was used in Venice in particular. is another fine choice for your surname. As you found, it was also recorded in 14th century Venice and it derives from a word that means "curly-haired" [2]. This name and variants of it are common today in the region of Venice [5]. By your period, as we noted above, it would be much more likely to be used as an inherited family name and so would probably not have been understood as a personal description. In summary, or are excellent names for a Venetian woman c.1500. However, we recommend that you think of your surname as simply a family name, not as a literal description. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 19 Jul 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei nomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992), s.nn. Dolce, Serena. [2] Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/ [3] Pelligrini, Giovan Battisa, _Toponomastica Italian: 10000 nomi di citta, paesi, frazioni, regioni, contrade, fiumi, monti spiegati nella loro origine e storia_a_ (Milano: Ulrico Hoeplu, 1990, reprint 1994), s.v. riva. [4] Fucilla, Joseph G., _Our Italian Surnames_ (Evanston, IL: Chandlers' Inc., 1949), p.101. [5] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei cognomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978), s.n. Rizo. [6] Rhian Lyth, "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/italian.html