ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2879 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2879 ************************************ 17 Jun 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for our help creating a name appropriate for a woman of Moorish descent living in Valencia during the mid-14th century, with a given name close to or , and a byname meaning 'healer', or something indicating that she was a doctor. Here is the information we have found. Some form of is a fine name for your place and period. In the first half of the 14th century the name is recorded as or in Narayola in the Bierzo region (between Galicia and Leon); in this study it was the second most common feminine name. [1] We also found one instance of in Barcelona in 1389, and many examples of the name in 14th C Navarre, including three from 1366. [2,3] An occupational byname is not unreasonable for a woman in your period. However, we were unable to find any with your desired meaning. [2] In a census from 14th C Barcelona, we found the masculine byname 'doctor'. [2,4] We are unsure whether there would be any feminine version of this word. A Catalan dictionary offers another possibility, the word "midwife", recorded in 1296 [5]. We don't have an example of this word used as a byname, but it is an entirely reasonable choice. We also found one 'Mahomat blood-letter' in Catalan in 1176 [4], but this is from before your period and again we do not know of any feminine form. If you would like to consider other alternatives for your byname, please write us again and we'll be happy to offer suggestions. We hope that this letter has been useful 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 Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, Juliana de Luna, and Jillian Saint Andre. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 17Jun04 -- References: [1] Friedemann, Sara L. "Leonese Names from the First Half of the 14th Century" (WWW: Self-published, 2003) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/leonfarmer.html [2] Marsa/, Francisco, et al. _Onoma/stica Barcelonesa del Siglo XIV_ (Barcelona: University of Barcelona, 1977). p. 86 (folio 80 v.a.) "Lo fill de na Teresa" [3] Carrasco Pe/rez, Juan _La Poblacio'n de Navarra en el Siglo XIV_ (Pamplona, Spain: Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A, 1973). p. 425 Teresa Lopiz p. 428 Teresa Sanchiz p. 432 Teresa, la de Miguel del alcalde [4] Kremer, Dieter. 'Bemerkungen zu den mittelalterlichen hispanischen cognomina', in _Aufsa"tze zur Portugiesischen Kulturgeschichte_, vols. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17. Sonderdruck aus Portugiesische Forschungen der Go"rresgesellschaft. Herausgegeben von Hans Flasche (Mu"nster: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1970- 1981/82). V:269 [5] "El Diccionari" (WWW: Enciclopedia Catalana, 1997-2003) http://www.grec.net/home/cel/dicc.htm