ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2387 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2387 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 6 Nov 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a woman living in Prague around 1525. Here is the information we have found. While the masculine name or , a German version of , was fairly popular in Germany throughout the Middle Ages [1,2,3], the feminine form seems to be much rarer. [4,5] We found in the area around Switzerland in 1094, 1185, 1192, but these are from a place far from Prague, and in a time far from your period, so this is not good evidence that would be appropriate. [6] Closer to your desired area, we found a 15th century queen of Bohemia known modernly as [9], as well as a few examples of in Poland in a Latin context: 1473 and 1480. [8] While these may be Latinizations of the Polish name , was in turn also a feminine form of . Poland is close enough to Prague that, given these examples, one could reasonably speculate that some feminine form of was used in 16th century Prague, but we do not know what. We did not find the surname in our sources. The most similar surname we found was , recorded in Prague in 1396. It was apparently the name of someone from Zittau, about 100 kilometers north-northeast from Prague. [4] Other spellings that we found are 1381, 1381, and 1391. [7] This byname literally means "milk-bag" and was originally a nickname for a dairyman or cattle-dealer. would have been pronounced roughly \MILCH-zahk\, where the \CH\ stands for the sound of in German . By the 16th century, most bynames had become fixed, inherited surnames, and were no longer literal descriptives. A woman surnamed was probably the daughter of someone named , not a dealer in cattle herself. 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, Anezka z Rozmitala, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Catriona inghean Ui Bhraonain. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 06Nov01 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "German Given Names 1200-1250" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germ13/ [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [3] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period German Masculine Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germmasc/ [4] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990). s.nn. Johanna, Milchsack [5] Drosdowski, Guenther, _Duden Lexikon der Vornamen_, 2nd ed. (Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 1974). s.n. Johanna [6] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966). p. 90 [7] Schwarz, Ernst, _Deutsche Namenforschung. I: Ruf- und Familiennamen_ (Goettingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1949). s.n. Milchsack [8] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). s.n. Johanna [9] Klassen, John M., _Warring Maidens, Captive Wives, and Hussite Queens_, (New York: Columbia UP, 1999). p.244