ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2435 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2435 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 25 Dec 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if the Frankish feminine name was used between 900 and 1200. Here is the information we have found. While we were not able to find the specific spelling [1] in any of our sources, we did find a number of variants throughout your period in various parts of France, including Reims, Alsace, Paris, Cluny, and Poitiers [2]: Auda 1075 Oda 732, 944, 961, 958, 10th-11th C Odda before 12th C Otta 993-1048 The spelling beginning with would probably also be appropriate for earlier in your period; the masculine form was fairly common from 627 to 895, with and being more common later on. [2] would originally have been pronounced \OW-dah\, and probably remained pronounced like this where Germanic influence was strong. However, in Old French, it would have been \OH-dah\ or \OH-d@\, where \0H\ is the vowel in and the \@\ is the sound of in or . The French pronunciation is probably what accounts for the spellings beginning in . 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael December 25, 2001 --------------------------------------- References: [1] You noticed the similarity between your name, , and an Irish name. There is an Irish masculine name . is a genitive (possessive) form of that name, i.e. it means "Aodh's". In modern Irish, can be pronounced \AY\ and can be \AY-@\; both the spelling and pronunciation were quite different in your period. We haven't encountered as an Irish feminine name; it's possible that someone coined it in modern times by adding the Latin feminine <-a> to the masculine name, but such a name would not have existed in period. [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). I:45b