ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2598 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2598 ************************************ 16 Dec 2002 From: Juan del Escobar Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a 14th century English woman. Here is the information that we have found. The given name is found in various spellings before, during, and after your period. Examples of this are (1279), (1296), (1326), and (1413). Other Latinized forms of the name, used only in writing, are (1281), (1296), (1303), and (1346) [1]. The surname , on the other hand, is questionable. Like many 14th century surnames it has the form of a place-name (as indicated by the element <-thorne>), but we have found no evidence for as a place-name. Of course our sources are not exhaustive, so we can still ask whether or something similar is a plausible medieval English place-name. The element , meaning 'a thorn-tree, a hawthorn', is quite common in English place-names. When it is used as the second element of a place-name, the first element is very often an Old English personal name such as in modern , which derives from a phrase meaning "Glappa's thorn-tree" [2]. It is also found with first elements describing the thorn-tree in some way. For example, the place-names , , and are from Old English names that meant 'rough thorn-tree', 'crow thorn-tree' (presumably a tree frequented by crows), and 'thorn-tree on the outskirts' [3]. Thus, we need to ask whether there is an Old English personal name, or an Old English word that might plausibly have been used to characterize a thorn-tree, that would have appeared as or something similar by the 14th century. The best way to do this is to look at the origins of existing place- names that seem to contain an element . Some can quickly be eliminated as irrelevant [4]. In the end we're left with just a few possibilities deserving of serious consideration. may contain an Old English masculine name , but there is no independent evidence that such a name existed. Alternatively, it may contain Old English 'a bell; a bell- shaped hill' [7,8]. This would result in an Old English 'thorn-tree on or near a bell-shaped hill', if was actually used in this way, and there is reason to think that it was. [9] The {th} in represents the Old English letter 'thorn', written as a lowercase 'b' superimposed on a lowercase 'p' so that they share a single loop and a single long vertical stroke. may contain Old English 'a fire, a funeral pyre' [10,11]. An Old English , meaning 'thorn-tree near a funeral pyre' is a possibility. The word definitely existed and is a likely source of modern in several place-names. There are at least two place-names in which a thorn-tree is described in terms of its location (, mentioned above, and , which means 'thorn-tree in or near a gully or ravine' [12]), so the basic idea is probably authentic. This would probably have resulted in a medieval . Old English 'a glade; dry ground in a marsh' may appear in any or all of , , and [13]. is also the likeliest medieval form of an Old English meaning 'thorn-tree on dry ground in a marsh' or 'thorn-tree in a glade'. The existence of the place-name element with these meanings is uncertain, but the possibility increases the likelihood of as a medieval place-name. contains an Old English masculine name or [14,15]. There is no doubt that or did exist, so an Old English place-name 'Bil's thorn-tree' or 'Bill's thorn-tree' is entirely possible. By the mid- thirteenth century it could easily have appeared as , , , or , to name only the likeliest forms, but it would not have lost the <-es> of the possessive to become as early as the fourteenth century. The safest choice for the surname is or : both the elements and the type of construction are well-attested, and only this specific combination is not. The place-name may not have existed, but it certainly could have, in which case it could certainly have been a fourteenth century surname. is a little more speculative, but we think that it's probably a reasonable historical re-creation. Finally, is a little more speculative yet. There's a good enough case for it that we cannot actively recommend against using it, but we think that , , and are better historical re-creation. Also, while we cannot rule out the possibility of spellings with final <-e> (e.g., ), we have seen very few <-thorne> spellings from the 14th century; they are much more characteristic of the 16th century. I hope the information in this letter has been of use to you. If you have any further questions please feel free to email us at the Academy. I was assisted in this research by Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Blaise de Cormeilles, Ursula Georges, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana la Caminante de Navarra. For the Academy, Juan del Escobar 16 December 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] Ekwall, Eilert. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place- names. 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960); s.n. . [3] Smith, A.H. English Place-Name Elements. 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956) ; s.v. <{th}orn>. [4] There are a few names in which Old French 'fine, fair, beautiful' appears (i.e. , , , and ). However, in all but the first example it is combined with other Old French words, not with native English elements ( 'fine place, fine site', 'beautiful retreat', 'beautiful view')[5]. The place-name doesn't actually contain a element at all: its first element is , from , the possessive form of the Old Norse name [6]. [5] Smith, op. cit., s.v. . We have found just one exception to this rule, the place-name , and it's a special case. The name was originally Old English 'marten grove', but sounded to the Normans too much like 'feces, filth', so they replaced it with . Since martens are not likely to be associated with single thorn-trees, an analogous origin for is also unlikely. [6] Ekwall, op. cit., s.n. . [7] ibid., s.n. . [8] Mills, A.D. A Dictionary of English Place-Names (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); s.n. . [9] Smith, op. cit., s.v. . [10] Mills, op. cit., s.n. . [11] Smith, op. cit., s.v. . [12] Mills, op. cit., s.n. . [13] ibid. s.nn. , , . [14] ibid. s.n. . [15] Ekwall, op. cit., s.n. .