ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2609 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2609 ************************************ From: Sara L Friedemann 04 Dec 2002 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a German man living in the area of the Eifel in Rheinland-Pfalz between 1400 and 1550. You also asked about the arms "Per bend argent and azure, a cross sable." Here is the information we have found. Your choice of given name is fine. We found three instances of the name in Silesia, two in 1491 and one in 1527. It was one of the more common names in Plauen in the early 16th century. [1] We also found earlier forms of the name in Switzerland in the 9th and 11th centuries. [2] These examples suggest that the name was used throughout the German-speaking world; so even though we haven't found an example in your region, we think that is probably just the result of our lack of sources from that region. The name designates a range of hills north of the Moselle in western Germany, as well as the region around those hills. would not be the best choice of a byname meaning "from Eifel"; the preposition is generally used only with town or city names. Instead, we recommend one of the following bynames, which all mean "someone from the Eifel": [3,4] Eifelmann 1135 Eifler, Eiffler 1408 Eiffeler 1456 in particular is an excellent choice for your period. You asked about the arms "Per bend argent and azure, a cross sable." Fields divided 'per bend' were not very common in German armory; 'per fess' (i.e., horizontally) was generally the preferred division. Crosses whose arms terminate before the edge of the shield were also uncommon; if you wish to use one on your arms, we recommend changing the field division to 'per fess', so that you are only using one uncommon element, and not two. Both "Per fess argent and azure, a cross sable" and "Per fess argent and azure, in chief a cross sable" are fine choices for your arms, with the latter one being perhaps more likely. [5] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, Falko von der Weser, Arval Benicoeur, Blaise de Cormeilles, and Galiana de Baiona. For the Academy, -Argantgui filia Catmaili, 04Dec02 -- References & Notes [1] Hellfritzsch, Volkmar, _Vogtlaendische Personennamen_ (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1969) [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, Vol. 1(Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). s.nn. Eifelmann, Eif(f)ler [4] We have found no evidence of a prepositional phrase used as a byname meaning "from the Eiffel". If it were used, we would expect it to be . However, since we haven't found it, we cannot recommend it as good re-creation. [5] As far as we know, you can register either of these designs with the SCA College of Arms. --