ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2472 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2472 ************************************ 15 Apr 2002 From: Marianne Perdomo Machin Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is a plausible 15th or 16th century eastern German name. Here is what we have found. We did not find any example of the particular spelling in period Germany, but we did find in various spellings: Gunther East Middle German-speaking area, 1240, 1280, 1320, 1344, 1348, 1360, 1420 [1] Gu"nther east-central Germany, 1401-1450 [2] Gunter northeastern Germany, late 15th century [3] Ghunter northeastern Germany, late 15th century [3] We think that any of these spellings of would make a fine name for you, provided they match the region where you set your persona. The quote mark in one of these names represents an umlaut -- two dots -- over the preceding letter. The spelling of the name of the modern town of would vary in your period depending upon which dialect was being used. From the late 14th century on, was one of several spellings used in its own area, where the dialect was Lower Saxon. We found examples of different spellings of the name in several period documents dated to between 1288 and 1376 [4]: Drackenborg 1288 Drakenburch Drakenborg Drakenborck Drakenborgh Drakenborch Darkenburgk Trackenburg Drakenburg 1340 Marquard Drakenburg 1340, 1349 Johann Drakenburg 1376 Additionally, we found a couple surnames related to the word "dragon" in documents from the same region [4]: Bernhardus and Olrik Drake Lower Saxon 1230 Drake zu Daselte Lower Saxon 1288 We also found one example of this place name recorded in the dialect of northeastern Germany: 1496 [5]. This is a normal Low German spelling for this period. The Austrian town known today as was recorded as in Prague 1406 [6]. So a spelling using would have been likely in southeastern Germany. Regarding the use of , the best source that we have for the eastern regions of Germany is an extract from a book on Ostfaelische surnames. For the later periods it shows a clear preponderance of over . The latter does occur, but relatively seldom [7]. Hence the preposition, if used, would normally be : . In summary, we recommend as a fine name for northeastern Germany. The same name might have been written in the region of Drakenburg itself. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Dietmar von Straubing, Falk vom Weserbogen, Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Leonor Martin 5 Apr 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Talan Gwynek (Brian M. Scott), "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (WWW: Brian M. Scott; 1998-1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [2] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period German Masculine Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germmasc/ [3] Engel, Franz, _Die Mecklenburgischen Kaiserbederegister von 1496_, Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 56 (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1968), pp. 188, 197, 219, 232-3, 232-3. The forename occurs several times in these records as a byname or surname. Name Location Jacop Gunter Malchin Thewes Ghunter Penzlin (city) Hinrik Ghunter Faulenrost, Vogtei Malchin Achim Ghunter Gaedebehn, Vogtei Stavenhagen Marcus Ghunter Gaedebehn, Vogtei Stavenhagen In our experience, at this time and place the sound \g\ was usually written before a vowel. [4] Hucker, Bernd Ulrich, _Drakenburg - Weserburg und Stiftsflecken. Residenz der Grafen von Wo"lpe. Geschichte des Flecken Drakenburg_ vol. 2, ISBN 3-00-006602-0. The last two names were found in documents from Bremen, some 70 miles north of Drakenburg. [5] Engel, Franz, op.cit. p. 222. [6] Schwarz, Ernst. Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus vorhussitischer Zeit (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1957); s.n. [7] Zoder, R., _Familiennamen in Ostfalen_. 2 vols. (Hildesheim: 1968).