ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2602 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2602 ************************************ From: Sara L Friedemann 25 Nov 2002 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a French woman living between 1300 and 1500. Here is the information we have found. France in your period was not the home to a single language, but rather many different dialects were spoken in different places, which would result in variations in spellings. Depending on where you wish to place your persona, certain spellings will be more appropriate than others. While the spelling would not be remarkable at all in English, we don't believe that this spelling, with the combination of and is likely as a French form of the name. [1] Below are listed French forms of that we have found. In Picardy, mostly in the 13th C though continuing through the 15th C: [2] Aalis Aelidis Aelips Aelis Alips Alis In Paris, 1292: [3] Aales Aalez Aalis Aaliz Alison In Calais, c.1300, where the name was fairly popular: [4] Aalis Aelidis Aelis (most common) Lisa Lise Lisse In Artois, c.1300: [4] Aalis Aelis (most common) Alais Alis Alisons Audeluie Lice Lise In Lorraine 1267-98, and its variants are the second most common name. Other forms (in order of frequency) are: [5] Aileis Aleit Alleit Aleis In Lyon 1388, we found two instances of and one of , where the slash represents an accent over the previous letter. [6] The forms most similar to your desired spelling that we found are in Lorraine 1267-98 and in the Lyonnais 1251. [5] Though these are both slightly earlier than when you were interested, we believe that these, or any of the forms listed above for c1300, would be appropriate for the early part of your period. Our sources for French names from the later part of your period are pretty slim. We do have examples of the name in Sully-sur-Loire, 70 miles south of Paris and 20 miles east of Orleans, between 1460 and 1500, including , , , and . [8] These are far from your chosen location, though, and thus we cannot recommend them strongly. The spelling is incorrect, because the preposition is not contracted in speech or writing before a consonant. A byname meaning "from Montmedy" is a fine choice for your byname: The city is recorded in Latin as 12th C and 1239. [7] is therefore reasonable for the earlier part of your period; by the end, the modern form of the city name, , was probably already in use. A name such as would be a lovely name for the early part of your period; something like would be less likely, but possible towards the later part. 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 Arval Benicoeur, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, -Argantgui filia Catmaili, 25Nov02 -- References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Alice [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [3] 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. [4] Gysseling, Maurits, and Pierre Bougard, _L'Onomastique Calaisienne a la Fin du 13e Siecle_, Onomastica Neerlandica (Leuven: Institut voor Naamkunde, 1963). [5] Jacobsson, Harry, _E/tudes d'Anthroponymie Lorraine les Bans de Tre/fonds de Metz (1267-1298)_ (Go:teborg: Gumperts Fo:rlag, 1955). [6] Edouard Philipon, Le Livre du Vaillant des Habitants de Lyon en 1388 (Lyon: Impressions de M. audin et Cie, 1927). [7] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963). s.n. Mons [8] Pierre Courcelle, Nouveaux Document Ine/dits de Sully-sur-Loire (1364-1500) (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale & Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1978). pp. 49, 51, 52, 55, 57, 62, 65, 69, 80 --