ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2714 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2714 ************************************ 27 Jun 2003 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a German man living between 1250 and 1400. You also asked about descriptive bynames using 'lightning', 'hammer', or 'warrior'. Here is the information we have found. We have one example of the spelling , from Silesia in 1359. Other spellings that occur in this place in your period include: [1] Ru"del 1344 (twice), 1342-47 (twice), 1367, 1372, 1373, 1390 this is a pet form of Ru"dger 1291, 1318, 1318-30, 1344 Ru"deger 1291, 1296 In these names represents a u-umlaut. As you can see, spellings with the umlaut on the are more common than those without; however, is a fine choice. Outside of Silesia, we find the name recorded in the Latin form six times between 1250 and 1300 in Arnsburg, and once between 1300 and 1350 in the same place. [4] In Zurich, a man named lived ca. 1300. [5] We were unable to find any medieval byname using the word , so we recommend that you do not use this. The word meaning 'hammer' is actually not German; it is Old French, via the Latin , which is a modification of the classical 'a small hammer'. [6,7]. is therefore not appropriate in a German name. We can, however, recommend a German byname that means 'hammer'. In particular, the byname is found in 1317 and 1425; it likely indicates that the bearer was a smith or worked with hammers. [2] doesn't mean 'warrior', it means 'crower'. [2] The word for 'warrior' is . We find recorded as a byname in a couple of different examples: or in 1260, as well as in 1312, whose byname was also spelled . [2,3] is an English and Latin name of the city that is now known in German as . Earlier German spellings of the place name began with , , , or . A byname indicating that you were from Nu"rnberg is a fine choice. In 1258 we find 'Conrad, called "of Nuremberg"', and in 1463 we find the variant 'man from Nu"rnberg.' [3] As you can see, a number of your desired surnames are reasonable choices. However, we would not expect to see a German man known by more than one different surname at the same time. Rather, in different contexts he might be known by different surnames; if he was being referred to in his capacity as a smith, a man named might be known as . If Ru"dger was residing in some place out side of Nu"rnberg, he might be known as 'Ru"dger the Nu"rnberger.' The only possible time when he might be recorded by more than one surname at the same time would be in a documentary context, where the locative byname (the one indicating where he's from) would come last, and function more as an address than as an actual surname. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Julie Stampnitzky, Maridonna Benvenuti, Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, and Juliana la Caminante. For the Academy, -Argantguia filia Catmaili, 27Jun03 -- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [2] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990). s.nn. Hammer, Kreiger, Kriegk, Krieger [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). s.nn. Krieger, Nieremberger, No"renberg, Nu"rnberger [4] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_ (Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and the Historischen Kommission fu"r Hessen, 1974). pp. 33, 35 [5] Bahlow, Hans, _Unsere Vornamen im Wandel der Jahrhunderte_, Vol. 4 in the series _Grundriss der Genealogie_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn: C. A. Starke Verlag, 1965). s.n. Ru"diger [6] Greimas, Algirdas Julien, _Dictionnaire de l'ancien franc,ais_ (Paris: Larousse, 1997). s.v. martel [7] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1938). s.v. marteau