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 <Aoda> was used between 900
and 1200.  Here is the information we have found.

While we were not able to find the specific spelling <Aoda> [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 <A-> would probably also be appropriate for
earlier in your period; the masculine form <Audo> was fairly common from 627
to 895, with <Odo> and <Oddo> being more common later on. [2]

<Auda> 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
<more> and the \@\ is the sound of <a> in <soda> or <about>.  The French
pronunciation is probably what accounts for the spellings beginning in <O->.

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, <Aoda>, and an Irish name.
There is an Irish masculine name <Aodh>.  <Aodha> is a genitive (possessive)
form of that name, i.e. it means "Aodh's".  In modern Irish, <Aodh> can be
pronounced \AY\ and <Aodha> can be \AY-@\; both the spelling and
pronunciation were quite different in your period.  We haven't encountered
<Aoda> 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