ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2714
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2714
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27 Jun 2003
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael
Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!
You wanted to know if <Rudger Von Nuremburg> is an appropriate name
for a German man living between 1250 and 1400. You also asked about
descriptive bynames using <Blitzen> 'lightning', <Martel> 'hammer',
or <Kreiger> 'warrior'. Here is the information we have found.
We have one example of the spelling <Rudger>, 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 <Rudger>
Ru"dger 1291, 1318, 1318-30, 1344
Ru"deger 1291, 1296
In these names <u"> represents a u-umlaut. As you can see, spellings
with the umlaut on the <u> are more common than those without;
however, <Rudger> is a fine choice. Outside of Silesia, we find the
name recorded in the Latin form <Rudegerus> six times between 1250
and 1300 in Arnsburg, and <Rudeger> once between 1300 and 1350 in the
same place. [4] In Zurich, a man named <Ru"diger Manesse> lived ca.
1300. [5]
We were unable to find any medieval byname using the word <blitzen>,
so we recommend that you do not use this.
The word <martel> meaning 'hammer' is actually not German; it is Old
French, via the Latin <martulus>, which is a modification of the
classical <marculus> 'a small hammer'. [6,7]. <Martel> is therefore
not appropriate in a German name. We can, however, recommend a
German byname that means 'hammer'. In particular, the byname
<Hammer> is found in 1317 and 1425; it likely indicates that the
bearer was a smith or worked with hammers. [2]
<Kreiger> doesn't mean 'warrior', it means 'crower'. [2] The word for
'warrior' is <Krieger>. We find <Krieger> recorded as a byname in a
couple of different examples: <Joh. Criec> or <Chrieger> in 1260, as
well as <Gerlachus dictus Krigere> in 1312, whose byname was also
spelled <Krieger>. [2,3]
<Nuremberg> is an English and Latin name of the city that is now
known in German as <Nu"rnberg>. Earlier German spellings of the
place name began with <Noren->, <No"ren->, <Norem->, or <Nurem->. A
byname indicating that you were from Nu"rnberg is a fine choice. In
1258 we find <Conr. dictus de Nuremberg> 'Conrad, called "of
Nuremberg"', and in 1463 we find the variant <Nieremberger> '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 <Ru"dger>
might be known as <Ru"dger Hammer>. If Ru"dger was residing in some
place out side of Nu"rnberg, he might be known as <Ru"dger
Nieremberger> '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