ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2760
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2760
************************************

5 Oct 2003
From: Josh Mittleman 


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Marguerite Sainteclaire> is an appropriate name for
a wealthy French woman born in the 1520s, whether she would have had a
middle name, and whether <Margot> is an appropriate nickname.  Here is
what we've found.

Middle names were extremely rare in France until the 17th century, and
are much more typical of French naming customs after our period [1].
We recommend that you use just one given name.  

<Marguerite> is an excellent choice: It appears in many of our studies
of French names from the 13th century onward [2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
<Margot> appears as a pet form of <Marguerite> in 13th and 15th
century Paris and 15th-16th century Provence [2, 3, 7]; it was
probably used in much of France in your period, too.

Your surname is also excellent, though we haven't found a specific
example in period records.  We have examples of several other surnames
of the same form, such as the 15th century surnames recorded in Paris
<de Saint Amour>, <de Saint Martin>, <Saint Andre/>, <Saint Homme>
[3]; and others recorded in Picardy <de Sainte Anstrud> 1438, <de
Saint Martin> 1410, <de Saint Quentin> 1438 [10].  There are modern
places <Sainte-Claire> in Picardy, Lorraine, and Oise (just north of
Paris) [8] and several more based on the name of the masculine <Saint
Clair>, several of which existed in your period [9].  Dropping the
preposition <de> was increasingly common in the 16th century,
especially outside the nobility where the literal meaning of the
surname had been lost a century or more before.

In short, <Marguerite Sainteclaire> is a fine choice for the 16th
century anywhere in north or northwestern France; and <Margot> is
probably a fine nickname.


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if you
have any questions.  I was assisted in researching and writing this
letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  4 Oct 2003


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References

[1] Perouas, L., B. Barrie\re, B., J. Boutier; J.-C. Peyronnet, &
J. Tricard, _Le/onard, Marie, Jean et les Autres: Les Pre/noms en
Limousin depuis un Mille/naire (Paris: E/ditions du Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique, 1984), p.12 and following.  The authors
mention a handful of isolated examples in 16th century Limousin, but
quote an author from 1695 saying that double given names or middle
names were an innovation around 1600.

[2] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris",
Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA:
Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997).
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html

[3] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "French Names from
Paris, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002).
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/paris1423.htm

[4] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "French Names from
1601" (WWW: privately published, 2002).
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french1601.htm

[5] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS
Proceedings, 1994; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/cateline/norman16.html

[6] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "Names from a
1587 Tax Roll from Provins" (WWW: privately published, 2002).
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/provins1587.htm

[7] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France"
(WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/latefrenchfem/

[8] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de
Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997), s.n. Saint.

[9] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms
de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963),
s.n. St-Clair.

[10] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de
personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens,
Musee de Picardie, 1967), p.346.