ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2367 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2367 ************************************ 25 Sep 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 12th-14th century Englishman. This letter is a brief answer to your question. Your name is fine for your entire period, though the spelling is appropriate only toward the end. The name was very common throughout the 12th and 14th centuries. It was often recorded in the Latinized forms and [1, 2, 3, 4]. Surnames meaning "from York" are found in English records throughout your period; however, the spelling of the name of that city changed of that period. It was recorded in 11th century English documents and , pronounced \EV-er-witch\ or perhaps \EV-er-wik\; and in the Latin form . In 1205, it was written <3orc> and <3eorc>, where the character <3> represents the Middle English letter yogh, written like a 3 with an elongated tail and pronounced here like the in . These last two forms, therefore, would have been pronounced roughly the same as the modern name [5, 6]. The earliest example we've found of the modern spelling is from 1324 [7]. is a fine 14th century name. If you want a name appropriate to an earlier period, we recommend for the early 13th century, and in the early 12th century. Throughout your period, most documents were written in Latin; and it was common to record names in fully- or partially-Latinized forms. Toward the beginning of your period, we'd expect your name to be written . By the end, it might also be . If you want to register your name with the SCA College of Arms, then you'll need to change it to avoid conflict with several historical Dukes of York named Richard, including the father of Edward IV [8]. 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, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Elsbeth Anne Roth. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Sep 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.; WWW: privately published, 1997). http://members.tripod.com/nicolaa5/articles/names.html [2] Talan Gwynek, "Given Names from Early 13th Century England" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/eng13/ [3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "An Index to the 1332 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Lincolnshire, England" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 2000). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/LincLSR/ [4] Talan Gwynek, "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/yorkshire/ [5] Mills, A. D., _A Dictionary of English Place-Names_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. York [6] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. York [7] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. York. [8] "York, Richard, duke of", Britannica.com (WWW: britannica.com).