ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2534 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2534 ************************************ 17 May 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is a name that could have been used by a woman born in German-speaking Bern in the first half of the 16th century who later moved to a nearby French-speaking region like Vaud or Geneva. Here is what we have found. is probably a fine name. It was used by German speakers in the area that is now Switzerland as early as the 11th century and it is reasonable to believe that it remained in use throughout our period [1]. So it is a good choice for a woman born in late-period Bern. The French "from the well or spring" certainly existed in your period -- we have examples from Paris as early as the late 13th century [2] -- but it was not used in that form in the region you want to re-create. The word is a northern form, not appropriate to the Franco-Provencal dialect spoken in what is now western Switzerland. A more appropriate form is or [3]. In the 16th century in the regions that interest you, people used inherited family names in much the same way that we do today. In an earlier period when surnames were still used literally, it was not uncommon for a surname to be translated literally, i.e. a Bernese woman called "from the well" in German [4] might have been known as in French. By the 16th century, though, our research shows that surnames were no longer interpreted literally in the same ways; a surname was typically rendered into another language phonetically. Thus, for a German woman to be known in French as , we believe that her originally German surname would have to sound similar to or [5]. Unfortunately, we found no German surname that fits. We therefore can't recommend the particular scenario you asked about, i.e. a 16th century woman born in a German-speaking region who moved to a French-speaking region and was known there as . If you move your persona a couple hundred years earlier, then this would be entirely plausible. If you prefer to stick with the 16th century and you'd like our help choosing a pair of German and French surnames that fits this scenario better, we may be able to find something. 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, and Eoin Caimbeul. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 May 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Bahlow, Hans, _Unsere Vornamen im Wandel der Jahrhunderte_, Vol. 4 in the series _Grundriss der Genealogie_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn: C. A. Starke Verlag, 1965), s.n. Adele. [2] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997), s.nn. Font, Lafon. [4] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Zumborn. [5] The French surname was introduced to Germany in the late 17th century by Huguenots, but does not appear to have existed in German before then. Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990), s.n. Fontane.