ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2931 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2931 ************************************ 27 Sep 2004 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the name . Here is what we've found. We have found no evidence that was used by real people in our period. There was a Gallo-Roman goddess , possibly local to the Mosel valley. In modern Wicca, she is sometimes associated with astronomy [1, 2, 3]. Any modern use of seems to derive from the neo-pagan connection. As you noted, the name was registered once by the SCA College of Arms, in the name . This name was registered in 1984, when the College's standards of historical documentation for names were very low. No documentation at all was provided for this name [4]. The most similar pre-modern name that we can suggest is , which was used at various times and places in medieval and renaissance Europe. If you are interested in this name, let us know and we'll be happy to tell you more. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Mari neyn Bryan, Ursula Georges, and Gunnvor Silfraharr. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 27 Sep 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Trier Regional Museum, Gallo-Roman Department (WWW: The Roman History Reading Group, accessed 29 Sep 2004). The museum has a statue of the goddess Sirona, along with one of her consort, Apollo Grannus. http://romanhistorybooksandmore.freeservers.com/p_trierRM.htm#sirona [2] Sirona (WWW: Wikipedia, 2004). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirona [3] The connection between Sirona and astronomy probably arises from the etymology of her name: , the Welsh word for 'star' (cf. the Gaulish theonym ), is not common in personal names, and the Breton and Cornish equivalent is in any case . STLAW/1, Celtic Inscribed Stones Project (WWW: University College London, accessed 27 Sep 2004) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/stone/stlaw_1.html [4] The name was submitted to Laurel on the 19 May 1984 Middle Kingdom LoI, described merely as "Irish Celtic". The submission forms said that is "another early Celtic name - means mysterious or star (from the stars?)".