ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2722
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2722
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NOTE: This report was originally sent as a direct reply, and therefore is
not as reliable as regular Academy reports.

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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

The article in which you found the name <Ageric> 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 <Ageric> remained in use until the early 12th 
century, but it changed considerably over the centuries.  It is 
recorded as <Agiricus> in the 9th and 10th centuries, <Agericus> in 
the 9th and 10th C, <Airicus> in several examples form the 730s to the 
mid-10th century, <Ayricus> a.1070, <Ayaricus> a.970, <Aiericus> 
t.Pip.II, <Echarigus> a.670, <Ecricus> a.796, <Egirich> a.822, 
<Ekkirich> a.765, and <Eiricus> 9th to early 12th C [1].  These are 
almost all Latinized forms, of course.  The data suggests that the 
<g> in the early name was pronounced like the <ch> in the 
modern German word <Bach> rather than like the <g> in <get>; and it 
softened to a \y\ as in <yet> 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, <Ayric>, <Airic>, or <Eiric>.

   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.