ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2784 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2784 ************************************ 9 Nov 2003 From: Femke de Roas Greetings from the Academy! You asked us if would be an appropriate name for a woman in Orleans, France, in the late 12th century. is a fine choice. It appears in the Old French forms and and the Latin form in 11th and 12th century documents [1, 2]. We found examples of between 1202 and 1216 [2]. The city of is mentioned in Latin documents as early the 5th century, including the form in the 12th century [3]. The slash represents an acute accent on the preceding letter. Based on these examples, we recommend as a 12th century Old French form of your name. This is the form that would have been used in daily conversation, pronounced \ee-zah-BEL dor-lee- AY~NSS\. \AY\ is the vowel in the word ; with the tilde, \AY~\ indicates that the same vowel should be pronounced somewhat through your nose. In this period, though, the common language of writing was Latin. In Latin, your name could have been written . We hope this letter has been useful to you. Please don't hesitate to write again if anything is unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter were provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Richenda de Jardin, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Femke de Roas ______________________________________________________________________ References [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). Volume 2:46b. [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. [3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). Volume 3:28b.