ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2880 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2880 ************************************ 28 Jun 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate surname for a German woman living between 1300 and 1500. Here is the information we have found. At the beginning of your period, throughout all classes of society and in all of the German-speaking lands, literal descriptive bynames were still the norm; throughout your period these were being replaced by fixed, inherited surnames (like modern day surnames). An example of a literal byname is 'the [masculine] wolf', which we find in 1300. [1] In the 14th and early 15th centuries, we find the bynames , recorded in 1365, 1411, 1414, and 1415, and , recorded in 1397 and 1414. [1,2] These are probably not derived from the descriptive byname meaning 'the wolf', but rather are from the given name or from a short form of such compound given names as and . We cannot tell whether they are literal patronymics, i.e., bynames giving the actual name of the bearer's father, or whether they are inherited surnames, but we are quite sure that by the end of your period and were in use as inherited surnames. We have not found the spelling , and recommend that you do not use it. The addition of final <-e> is not a variation that we have seen in German names. We can only recommend the literal byname for the very early part of your period. The correct feminine form of is where represents an o-umlaut. In many places, perhaps even most, the wife or daughter of a man surnamed would also have been known by a feminine form of the surname, e.g., or , depending on the dialect. We find many examples of this phenomenon from 1349 to 1408, and then again in 1439 and 1519, and this provides good evidence that it occurred throughout much of your period. [3] In sum, is a fine descriptive byname for the early part of your period, with or and appropriate for the later part of your period. A woman could have borne one of these bynames * because her husband, father, or former husband had the byname , a literal patronymic or, much less likely, a reference to the animal; * because her husband, father, or former husband had inherited the surname ; or * because her husband, father, or former husband was named , , etc.; * as a descriptive nickname referring to some wolflike trait of her own, though this is less likely. For more information on given names that are appropriate to use with one of these bynames, we recommend the following articles: "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ "German Given Names from 1495" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german1495.html "15th-Century German Women's Names" http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/german15f.html In your period, the vast majority of Germans had only one given name. Unless you have chosen a persona in a time, place, and social class where you know middle names were used, we recommend that you pick just one given name. For example, or is a lovely name for the latter half of your period. 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, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28Jun04 -- References: [1] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357). p. 620 s.n. Wolf(f) [2] Schwarz, Ernst, _Deutsche Namenforschung. I: Ruf- und Familiennamen_ (Goettingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1949)., s.n. Wolf [3] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_ (Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and the Historischen Kommission fu:r Hessen, 1974) pp. 365-6.