ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2729
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2729
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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!

You asked whether <Erilys> is an appropriate name for a woman from the
British Isles at any time before 1600.  As a general rule, we're
rarely able to answer so broad a question: The languages of the
British Isles changed enormously in the millenium before 1600, and
there is no comprehensive source we can consult for names used in all
those cultures and their languages.  

We do not recognize <Erilys> as a name we've encountered in our
research.  We did find evidence on the WWW that it is a rare modern
given name, but that unfortunately doesn't tell us anything about its
history.  Is it possible that you were thinking of the Welsh name
<Eirlys>?  This is a modern name derived from a Welsh word that means
"snowdrop" or "snow herb", and our source tells us that it was
invented in modern times [1].  Consequently, we can't recommend this
as a good choice for pre-1600 re-creation.

We have some good articles on names in the various languages of
pre-1600 Britain.  You can find them in our Medieval Names Archive,
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/.  In particular, we think you'll
be particularly interested in these articles:

For Welsh names:

A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html

For Scottish names:

Scottish Names 101 
http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/scotnames101.shtml

Quick and Easy Gaelic Names 
http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/

A Simple Guide to Constructing 12th Century  Scottish Gaelic Names
http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/simplescotgaelicnames12.shtml

For English names, we have many articles that you can find from 
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/english.shtml.

Please write again if you have further questions.
  


   Arval
   for the Academy
   14 Dec 2001



[1] Gruffudd, Heini, _Enwau i'r Cymry/Welsh Personal Names_ (Talybont:
Y Lolfa, 1984), s.n. Eirlys.

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Action: Comments from Tangwystyl, 14 Dec 2001 17:57

Just a further comment on the form <Erilys> -- when I Googled it, I got 
three distinct hits: an <Erilys Price> and an <Erilys Hunter> both of 
whom show even more hits under the spelling <Eirlys> (suggesting that <
Erilys> is a typo in these cases), and a canine <Erilys of Stanhope> 
who does not show up under the spelling <Eirlys> and who may well have 
simply been named with a typo.  My opinion is that there is essentially 
no Google evidence for <Erilys> as a modern given name, but only as an 
occasional typo for <Eirlys>.

Tangwystyl


10 Feb 2002
From: 
Subject: Academy of Saint Gabriel Question

gender: Feminine
SCA: on
language: Pick One For Me
begin: 600
end: 1600

I have found the name Elinae as a swedish feminine name around the 
period of 1400 I was wondering whether there were any other cultures 
that used this name or if there would be a suitable version of the 
name around the area of Northern Britain, and what sort of surnames 
would be suitable for the name Elinae


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Action: Comments from Aryanhwy, 10 Feb 2002 10:46

<Elin{ae}> is found in my SMP article, dated to 1387, 1401, 1423, and 
1476. It's a form of <Ellen>.  I'm sure there'l be a version of it in 
15th C northern Britain - in fact, we could probably just send her to 
Talan's DES article, and the general medieval bynames article for 
information on English surnames.

This can probably be a direct reply.


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Action: Comments from Aryanhwy, 10 Feb 2002 11:26

She originally wrote us about two months ago asking about <Erilys>.

 

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Action: Reply by Arval, 10 Feb 2002 11:43


Subject: Academy of Saint Gabriel

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked about the Swedish name <Elin{ae}>, which you found in our 
Medieval Names Archive in the article Swedish Feminine Given Names 
from SMP, at http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/smp/.  The 
article reports that this is a variant spelling of <Elin>, the Swedish 
form of <Ellen>, and notes four examples between 1287 and 1476.  

It's unlikely that this particular name, in this spelling, was used 
anywhere outside Scandinavia.  However, forms of <Ellen> were used in 
England in the 14th-16th centuries and in the Lowlands of Scots in the 
15th and 16th centuries.  See:

  http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/
  http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/scottishfem/

If you want to construct a late-period English name, you can find 
several lists of appropriate surnames in the index at:

  http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/eng1450to1600.shtml

If you want a 15th or 16th century Lowland Scottish name, you can 
find some appropriate surnames at:
  
http://www.MedievalScotland.org/scotnames/lowland16/surnamesinstances.
shtml

If you want to doublecheck your choices or if you have further 
questions, please write again.

   Arval
   for the Academy
   10 Feb 2002