ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2367
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2367
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25 Sep 2001
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Richard of York> 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 <York> is
appropriate only toward the end.

The name <Richard> was very common throughout the 12th and 14th centuries.
It was often recorded in the Latinized forms <Richardus> and <Ricardus> [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 <Euruic> and
<Eferwic>, pronounced \EV-er-witch\ or perhaps \EV-er-wik\; and in the
Latin form <Eboracum>.  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 <y> in <yet>.  These
last two forms, therefore, would have been pronounced roughly the same as
the modern name <York> [5, 6].  The earliest example we've found of the
modern spelling is from 1324 [7].  

<Richard of York> is a fine 14th century name.  If you want a name
appropriate to an earlier period, we recommend <Richard of 3orc> for the
early 13th century, and <Richard of Eferwic> 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 <Ricardus de
Eboracum>.  By the end, it might also be <Ricardus de York>.

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


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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).