ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2425 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2425 ************************************ 26 Dec 2001 From: Ursula Whitcher Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the name would be appropriate for an English woman who lived between 500 and 800 AD. You were also interested in an appropriate byname. We'd like to note that there was no "English" language during your period. Many of the inhabitants of the area that later became England spoke a language called Brittonic. Brittonic is an ancestor of modern Welsh, but it is still very different from even medieval Welsh, and we have very little information about it. was recorded in a Latin inscription in the late fifth century, just before your period. We believe that it is a Latin translation of a Brittonic name; unfortunately, we don't have enough information to guess the Brittonic form. [1] In the Latin spoken in Britain during your period, we expect that was pronounced \ah-wee-toh-REE-ya\. is an appropriate name for the beginning of your period; however, since it appears in only one inscription, we cannot recommend it for a woman living after the sixth century. In Latin inscriptions from your period, women are often identified as their fathers' daughters. The Latin word means "daughter". Thus, the name of a woman called , daughter of a man called , might have been recorded in Latin as , "Avitoria daughter of Sagragnus". [2] ( changes to because of a requirement of Latin grammar; the change is analogous to adding the <'s> in the English phrase . is called the genitive form of the name.) If you'd like to choose a name for your father, we recommend that you return to the article you looked at before: "The First Thousand Years of British Names," http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/british1000/ Many of the names listed in this article are already in the genitive case (marked with a 'g'); if you'd like to know the correct form or pronunciation of a particular masculine name, please write to us again. I 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Ursula Georges 26 Dec. 2001 References: [1] Jackson, Kenneth, _Language and history in early Britain; a chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, first to twelfth century A.D._ (Edinburgh, University Press, 1953) pp. 182, 186. may also represent an early Irish name. [2] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "The First Thousand Years of British Names", (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/british1000/.