ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2385 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2385 ************************************ 18 Nov 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or anything that sounds similar to \go-then\ is an appropriate name for a 16th century man from a country which spoke a Germanic language. Here is what we have found. As we wrote earlier, one possibility is the 15th century Norwegian name or , pronounce \GOH-dhen\, where \OH\ stands for the vowel in and \dh\ represents the sound of the in . The symbol {dh} represents the letter edh, written like a backward '6' with a bar across the upper limb. This name derived from a much earlier borrowing of the Old English name [1]. It is a reasonable choice for Norway in your period. In Sweden, we found 1518, pronounced roughly \GOHT-sven\ [3]. The Danish form of this name is , recorded in 1418-52 and pronounced the same way; other variants were 1497, 1502, 1505 [4], pronounced \GOH-s@m\, \GOHT-s@n\ and \GOH-s@n\ respectively. The symbol \@\ stands for the sound of the in . At the eastern end of the Germanic world, we found or , a German adaptation of a Slavic name that is recorded in Luebeck around 1485 [2]. This name was pronounced \GOH-tahn\. If you'd like our help building a complete 16th century name around either of these possibilities, please write again. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Adelaide de Beaumont, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Ursula Georges, and Lindorm Eriksson. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 18 Nov 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Lind, E.H., _Norsk-Isla:ndska Dopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n Medeltiden_ (Uppsala & Leipzig: 1905-1915, sup. Oslo, Uppsala and Kobenhavn: 1931), s.n. Go{dh}in. [2] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990), s.n. Gothan [3] _Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn_, hafte 7 (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1981), s.n. Gozvin. The in may have been pronounced as an unvoiced \d\. [4] Knudsen Gunnar, Marius Kristiansen, & Rikard Hornby, _Danmarks Gamle Personnavne_, Vol. I: Fornavne (Copenhagen: 1936-48), s.n. Gozwin.