ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2378 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2378 ************************************ 7 Dec 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if "Santine of the Lake Under the Moon" would be an appropriate name for a medieval Frenchwoman. Here is the information we have found. The area of modern France was not a single country in our period, and more than one language was spoken there. The major linguistic division was between French, spoken in the north; and Occitan, spoken in the south. Occitan, also known as Provencal and Languedoc, was another Romance language, most closely related to Catalan. These are broad classifications; each includes many dialects, some of them very different. Many names were used in both French and Occitan, though usually in very different forms. In order to choose an authentic name, you'll need to focus on one language or the other -- and ideally on the dialect of one specific region. In this letter, we'll discuss possibilities for various parts of France. If you'd like more detail about any particular option, please write again. You found the name in the 1292 Paris census [1] and wondered if could be a valid feminine form. is an Occitan masculine name, ultimately derived from the Latin name , which was borne by bishops in 4th century Meaux and 6th century Senlis [2]. These saints were the namesakes of three places in southern France; two of these places appear in medieval records as 1322 and 1253 [3]. The pet form was also used [2]. Related masculine and feminine names derived either from or were used in most parts of France. The Paris census also has , which is a Central French feminine form of Occitan ; and the masculine or , which is probably a Gascon form of the same name [1]. In 13th century northwestern France the feminine name appears as and [4, 5]. In 12th and 13th century documents in the south, the masculine name is recorded as , , , , and ; the feminine name is (Latinized and ) [6, 7, 8]. We found no evidence that there was a feminine form of the Occitan masculine name . If there had been, it would have been . If we postulate the existence of that name, then we could further speculate that it could be recorded in a Central French dialect as (pronounced \sah~n-TEE-n@\, where \ah~\ represents a nasal vowel as in the French word and \@\ stands for the sound of the in or .). We aren't particularly comfortable with that much speculation, so we can't recommend as the best re-creation. A documented form like would be a better choice; and may be a more plausible construction if you particularly want the second syllable. Unfortunately, your byname does not fit any pattern of naming we've observed in medieval French or Occitan. Specifically, we've never seen a French byname that consists of two prepositional phrases; nor have we seen one that refers to the moon. We recommend you choose a different byname. Bynames in medieval French and Occitan were usually literally descriptive: A woman was identified as her father's daughter or her husband's wife; by her profession or her husband's; or by the place where she lived. Many people were identified by different bynames in different circumstances. One alternative you might consider "of/from the lake", a common byname that could have been given to anyone who lived near a lake [9]. In the 11th to 13th century, the same byname could have been [10], which is also a likely Occitan form [9]. Thus, or would be good choices for 12th-14th century northern or southern France, respectively. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter were provided by Adelaide de Beaumont, Pedro de Alcazar, Talan Gwynek, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Arval Benicoeur 7 Dec 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] 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 [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997), s.n. Santin. [3] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963), s.n. St-Santin. The modern places are in Cantal and Aveyron, in areas where the Languedocien and Auvergnat dialects of Occitan were spoken, respectively. [4] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [5] Bougard, Pierre, and Maurits Gysseling, _L'Impot Royal en Artois (1295-1302): Ro^les du 100e et du 50e pre/sente/s et publie/s avec une table anthroponymique, Me/moires de la Commission Royale de Toponymie et de Dialectologie #13 (Louvain: Imprimerie Orientaliste, B.P. 41, 1970). [6] Brenon, Anne, _Le petit livre aventureux des pre/noms occitans au temps du Catharisme_ (Tolosa: Loubatie\res, 1992), s.n. Sai"ssa. [7] Chambers, Frank M., _Proper Names in the Lyrics of the Troubadours_ (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971), s.nn. Saissa, Sancho. [8] Compan, Andre/, _E/tude d'Anthroponymie Provenc,ale: Les Noms de Personne dans le Comte/ de Nice aux XIIe, XIVe, et XVe Sie\cles_, thesis at the Universite/ de Paris IV, Dec. 1975 (Paris: Librarie Honore Champion, 1976). [9] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). s.n. Dulac. [10] Chrestien de Troyes's 'Le Chevalier de la Charrette', line 3676 has . http://www.princeton.edu/~lancelot/lancelo2.html