ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2722 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2722 ************************************ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTE: This report was originally sent as a direct reply, and therefore is not as reliable as regular Academy reports. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! The article in which you found the name is based on a medieval book that recounts the early -- 5th to 7th century -- history of the Franks. The names, therefore, are not really German in any real sense: Although Frankish was a Germanic language, the Franks lived mostly in areas now part of France. I'm not sure whether the name would have been used in Bremen. Further, the language of the 5th-7th century Franks was quite different from that of the 11th century French and Germans; and although some names remained in use through both periods, they often changes substantially in form and pronunciation. In short: The article "Early Germanic Names from Primary Sources" is not a good source for 11th century names and may not be a good source at all for names from Bremen. In France, the name remained in use until the early 12th century, but it changed considerably over the centuries. It is recorded as in the 9th and 10th centuries, in the 9th and 10th C, in several examples form the 730s to the mid-10th century, a.1070, a.970, t.Pip.II, a.670, a.796, a.822, a.765, and 9th to early 12th C [1]. These are almost all Latinized forms, of course. The data suggests that the in the early name was pronounced like the in the modern German word rather than like the in ; and it softened to a \y\ as in by the 9th century (and possibly earlier). In the 11th century, the name was probably pronounced \EYE-ric\. If you want to use the name, I recommend you choose one of the spellings from your period, , , or . Arval for the Academy 05 Aug 2002 [1] Marie-Therese Morlet, Les NOms de Presonne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle (three volumes), Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, 1968; I:21d.