ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2731 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2731 ************************************ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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! Yes, the Academy can research a particular name. However, because our resources are very limited, we focus our work on helping people who are truly interested in choosing and using authentic names rather than people who have already chosen their names and are primarily interested in registering them. If your client is interested in having a name that is a good re-creation of his culture, then we'll be happy to help him. If at all possible, we'd prefer that he contact us directly: We've found that our style of consultation works much better when we can correspond directly with our client. I just did a quick check of the Academy's archives and some of my references, and I'm afraid I can't find much about the name . The fact that it has been registered before in the SCA actually doesn't tell us anything: There are several ways to register a name even if it is completely undocumented. Most of the examples in the armorial were registered in the early 1980s, when the rules for the authenticity of names were much more lax than they are today; so it's entirely possible that no one ever even asked whether it was an authentic name. Dunkling and Gosling's "The New American Dictionary of First Names" says it is the name of a river in Scotland that became popular as a given name in Britain and Canada in the 1920s. That suggests that the name was first used as a surname and only became a given name in modern times: That's a very common pattern. So while I can't give you a definitive answer, I would certainly advise your client to consider a different name. Are you planning on coming to the heraldic schola at Hrimschola on 2 March? I'll be there; if you are, please introduce yourself. Have you considered joining the Academy? If you are interested in learning more about medieval names and arms, you'll find our work very interesting. Arval for the Academy 18 Feb 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! Just to update you: We checked the only recent registration of and discovered that it was registered under the legal name allowance, i.e. the rule that says that a person can include one element of his real name in his Society name, even if it isn't authentic, as long as it isn't blatantly modern. It's probable that the College wouldn't have bothered invoking that rule if there were any evidence for as a given name in our period. > As new people enter our Shire, the first thing I do is talk to them > about not getting attached to a name until we do some research. You might want to go a step further and advise them only to pick a name from a medieval source. A name selected from a list of modern names stands a pretty low chance of being a medieval name. Arval for the Academy 19 Feb 2002 From: 20 Feb 2002 Subject: Re: Academy of Saint Gabriel Was that the registration of Kelvin of Tynedale, Oct 1994 , Caid? I would like to have my facts straight, as he will be hideously disappointed. Thanks. Isabel ---------- Action: Reply by Aryanhwy, 20 Feb 2002 12:10 Subject: Academy of Saint Gabriel Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! The registration of the name was actually 11/93, Caid. The mention of Kelvin of Tyndale in 10/94 was the registration of his device. Most of the LoARs from the last 10 years are on-line at www.sca.org/heraldry/loar. You may want to look these up if you have further questions about items registered by the SCA. Aryanhwy for the Academy 20 Feb 2002