ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2563 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2563 ************************************ 28 May 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether some form of is an appropriate name for a 14th or early 15th century Englishwoman. is a Latin form of the English name or [1]. The Latin form, recorded in this spelling in 1369, is a fine choice when you are writing your name. In speech, however, we recommend you use the vernacular form [2]. and were both pronounced \DEN-iss\. Your surname appears in medieval records in the name 1237. The French or Latin in this example is again a form that would have been used only in writing; the English equivalent was . The same place name is recorded 1288 (where the here is equivalent to a ) and 1429 [3]. We aren't certain how the place name was pronounced in your period. The 13th century spellings probably represent the pronunciation \KLOW-r@dj\, where \ow\ is pronounced as in and \@\ stands for the sound of the in . The 15th century spelling represents \KLAW-r@dj\. We aren't sure when the pronunciation shifted. A 14th century woman known in English as might have been identified in writing as . Note that in your period was pronounced \ohf\, where \oh\ stands for the vowel in . We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Julie Stampnitzky, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 28 May 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ [2] There may have been vernacular forms more similar to . We find 1297, 1327, and 1332 [3]. While clearly influenced by the Latin form, these masculine names do appear to be vernacular forms. They were certainly much less common than , though. was pronounced \DEE-@-n@ss\. [3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Clarage, Denis.