ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2576 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2576 ************************************ 26 Oct 2002 From: SARA LIANA FRIEDEMANN Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a 14th century Polish man. Here is the information that we've found. During your period, Polish records were kept in either Latin or German. We have found a number of forms of from the early 13th century on. [1] Cristoforus 1252 (Latin) Cristoforo 1338 (Latin) Cristoforus 1365, 1387 (Latin) Crzistconem 1392 (Latin) Kristof 1402 (Latin) Cristofero 1403 (Latin) Cristoff 1413 (German) Given that there were no Polish records, there is technically no "Polish spelling" of names, only Polish names which appear in Latin or German texts. In the Polish language there are many sounds that cannot be represented accurately in a Latin text; however, these Latin forms can be used to reconstruct possible Polish forms. For example, the name recorded as can be reconstructed as (using the modern Polish spelling). Below is a list of the most popular forms of , given in modern forms reconstructed from the Latin texts. Following each name is the date of their first appearance in the sources, and the number of times they appear in the sources between the 10th and 15th centuries. [3] Krzysztofor 1228 23 Krzysztofer 1403 11 Krzysztopor 1436 1 Krzysztof 1386 14 Krzystek, Krystek 1248 11 Krzyszek, Krzyszko 1246 10 Krzysztan 1396 9 Krystel, Krzystel 1382 8 Krzysztko 1381 7 Krzysz 1366 5 Krzysztak 1401 4 Krzych 1382 3 Based on these examples and the Latin examples listed earlier, the long form of the name, , appears more likely than the short, ; however, we believe is still reasonable. In the 14th century, this would have been pronounced roughly \KZHISH- tohf\; the \ZH\ is a voiced \sh\, the sound of the in . Your choice of surname is excellent; we find the specific spelling recorded in 1413. Other spellings occur during and slightly after your desired period: [1] Wroblewska 1393, 1396 (feminine) Wroblefski 1394 de Wroblewo 1399 (Latin) Vroblewski 1402 was pronounced roughly \vroh-BLEF-skee\; the other spellings were pronounced similarly. Based on the Latin example , we believe this means "from Wroblew." Wroblew is a small village in the parish of Kostryzn. [2] We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you won't hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Ursula Georges, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegeni, Adelaide de Beaumont, Juliana de Luna, Patrycja Jablonska, and Laurensa de Chambord. For the Academy, Argantgui filia Catmaili, 26Oct02 -- References: [1] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). s.nn. Krzysztof, Krzysztofor, Wroblewska, Wroblowski [2] "Parish Entries: K" (WWW: Polish Genealogical Society of America, 2001). http://www.pgsa.org/parishesK.htm, accessed 28Sep02 [3] Malec, Maria, _Imiona Chrzes/cijan/skie w S/redniowecznej Polsce_ [Christian names (or rather "names of Christian origin") in medieval Poland], Krakow 1994.