ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2801 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2801 ************************************ 28 Nov 2003 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help creating an authentic name for a woman living in 15th C Germany, with , , or as your given name, and a byname appropriate for a silversmithing family. Here is what we have found. In your period, there wasn't a uniform German language, but rather a collection of dialects that varied from one region to the next There are three main groups of dialects: Low German, Middle German, and Upper German. The Low German dialects are in the north, the Upper German dialects are in the south, and the Middle German dialects are between them. The Middle German dialects generally have a mixture of Low and Upper German characteristics as well as some that are characteristically their own. Diminutives that end in <-lin> (and their derivatives, like Swiss <-li> and Bavarian <-el> or <-l>) are primarily Upper German. Low German diminutives characteristically use <-ken> and its derivatives, while the related form <-chen> is characteristically Middle German. Of course there was a good deal of mixing, especially in border areas, and we find <-lin> types in Middle German areas as well as Upper German. is an Upper and Middle German diminutive of which we find in 1495. [1] In Silesia, we find the form in 1366. Based on these examples, , , and are all reasonable for an Upper or Middle German name. We would be surprised to see or the like in a Low German dialect area. The German word 'silver' shows up in many surnames that were used by silversmiths, silver dealers, and silver miners, including the following: [3] silberprenner 1368 'silver burner', Bruenn Silberwage 1408 'silver-scales', Eger mit dem Silber 1389 'with the silber', Breslau Silber 1389 'silver', Breslau Silberer 1279 'silver', E{sz}lingen Silberman 1412 'silverman', Goerlitz (In this letter, {sz} to represent the German ess-zett ligature, which looks like a lower case Greek 'beta'.) We also found an example of the feminine in 1416. [4] In your period, a woman would most likely bear the feminine form of her family's byname; though we have not found examples of feminine forms of the other bynames in the list above, the feminine of is and the feminine of is . is a fine name for a 15th century woman whose family were dealers with silver and speaks an Upper or Middle German dialect. We hope that this brief letter has been clear to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Juliana de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, Raquel Buenaventura, Giudo di Niccolo, and Richenda de Jardin. For the Academy, -Agantgui filia Catmail, 28Nov03 -- References: [1] Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Friedemann), "German Given Names from 1495" (WWW: privately published, 2003) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german1495.htm [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [3] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357). s.nn. Silber, Silbermann [4] Schwarz, Ernst, _Deutsche Namenforschung. I: Ruf- und Familiennamen_ (Goettingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1949). s.n. Silberbrenner