ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2341
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2341
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27 May 2001
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Andre/ le Noir> is an appropriate name for an 11th to
14th century Frenchman.  This letter is a brief answer to your question.

You've chosen a fine name, most appropriate for the last century of your
period. 

Forms of the name <Andrew> were used in French at least from the 8th
century onward [3].  The particular spelling <Andre/> (where the slash
represents an acute accent mark on the 'e') came into use in the 14th
century.  The common vernacular forms of the name before then were <Andri>
and <Andriu>, with diminutive forms including <Andriet>, <Andrion>,
<Androuet>, <Andryet> [1, 2].

Descriptive epithets like <le Noir> were common throughout at least the
last two centuries of your period.  We've found this exact byname
recorded in Paris in 1292 [2].

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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, and Juliana
de Luna.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  27 May 2001


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References

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

[2] 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

[3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de
l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, (Paris: Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, 1972), vol. II s.n Andreas.