ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2344 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2344 ************************************ 27 May 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 15th century German man. This letter is a brief answer to your question. is an excellent name for your purposes. We find several records of this name: in 1389, 1390 and 1463, and the alternative spellings in 1420 and in 1458. [1] The represents an with two dots over it. The surname or originated in Upper German (the dialects spoken in the highlands and mountains of southern Germany) and Bavarian. It originally refered to a farmer whose land was a , a dialect term for 180 acres. Some early examples appears in the names 1301 in Thurgau and 1224. The symbol {ae} represents an a-e ligature, i.e. the two letters squashed together to form a single character. A related surname was recorded near Karlsruhe in 1390, ; his byname meant "rich Huber" [2, 3]. The spelling had probably developed by your period. In short, appears to be a fine name for your period. It would have been pronounced \GREG-or HOO-bair\, with \OO\ pronounced as in . 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 Juliana de Luna and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 27 May 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990) s.n. Gregor. [2] Bahlow s.n. Hubers. [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Huber.