ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2883 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2883 ************************************ 29 Apr 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate surname for a medieval woman living before 1600. If it is, you also asked if we could suggest given names that would be appropriate to use with this surname. Here is the information we have found. is a Dutch word for 'night-heron' or 'night-raven' and means 'wood' or 'forest'. Thus, a place called would indicate a woods known for its night birds. [3] We found one reference to a man named , who lived in the 16th century [1], and a Dutch man who was baptised in 1639. [2] This last example is rather unusual, as it was rare for prepositions like to be dropped from surnames during your period. Based on this, is a fine surname for a 16th or early 17th century Dutch woman. You can find some information about late-period Dutch feminine names at this website: "15th Century Dutch Names" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/dutch15.html This is slightly before your period. If you find a name here that you like, you can see if it occurs in the following article: "Flemish Names from Bruges, 1400-1600" http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/ This latter source mixes together masculine and feminine names, and so is not the easiest place to start looking for a name, but if you find a name in the first source that is listed as feminine, then you can see if it remained in use in the 16th century by looking at the second article. Another place you can look is this article: "Names of Aliens in London, 1571" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/drafts/aliens.html The names here are recorded in English and do not represent Dutch-language spellings, but if you find a name that interests you, we'd be happy to research what the Dutch spelling is. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Maridonna Benvenuti and Walraven van Nijmegen. -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 29Apr04 -- References: [1] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gomes/Alkmaar/publicaties/ghtout/gp 5875.htm [2] Brassard, Theodore. "Baptisms at the Reformed Dutch Church of New Amsterdam (1639-1730)" (WWW: 1997). http://www.altlaw.com/edball/dutchbap.htm [3] Verdam, J. _Middelnederlandsch Handwoordenboek_ (Leiden & Antwerpen: Martinus Nijhoff, 1911, repr. 1981).