ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2952
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2952
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional *
* information relevant to this report. *
* See the end of the letter for details. *
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28 Dec 2004
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael
Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!
You wanted to know if we could recommend names appropriate for a
woman living in Sicily or Ustica between 1400 and 1600. Here is
the information we have found.
Ustica is a small island about 80 km (50 mi) north of Palermo. We
don't have any sources for names specifically from Ustica, but it is
reasonable to assume that the names used there were roughly the same
as the ones used in Palermo and other parts of southern Italy which
used dialects similar to Sicilian. We therefore have two lists of
names that we can recommend to you, one from Palermo and one from Naples.
We found the following feminine names from a 15th-century Latin tax
record from Naples: [1]
Colella
Ioanna
Magalda
Oliva
Perretta
Pipa
Polisena
Ramundetta
We also found the following feminine names in Latin records from
Palermo in 1480. [2] Variant forms have been grouped together:
Agnesa
Alvira
Angila
Antona
Barbara
Bartholomia
Bartonia
Bella
Caterina
Catherina
Catirina
Chicca
Christina
Clara
Constanza
Costanza
Diana
Eularia
Florenza
Francisca
Frixa
Garita
Gati
Gratia
Grippina
Honofria
Ioanna
Joanna
Jacoba
Janna
Jannella
Jannina
Lena
Lisa
Lisabecta
Lisabecta
Becta
Lombarda
Lucia
Luchia
Madalena
Marella
Margarita
Maria
Marina
Marta
Michela
Milia
Minica
Narda
Nastasia
Perina
Perna
Perria
Philippa
Pina
Pricita
Razuna
Rosa
Sabella
Scarlata
Simuna
Tummia
Thumia
Ursula
Vilma
Vintura
Vinuta
Virdina
Ysabella
Ysmiralda
In one study of names from Palermo between 1561 and 1563, the
following feminine names were the most common: [3]
Joanna
Joanella (Joanna and Joanella together represent 14% of all
female names)
Margarita
Caterina
Franchisca
Antonina
Lauria
Caternella (Caterina and Caternella together represent 8% of all
female names)
Angila
Norella
The top ten names represent 42% of all feminine names in the source
studied.
You didn't say that you had any type of byname in mind, but we can
make some recommendations. In the feminine names from Naples, 6 of
the 8 women were recorded with a byname; one was a Latin descriptive,
<Gentillis> 'kind, amiable, courteous, tender'; three were patronymics
(byname based on the father's name), e.g. <Severinus>; and the other
one was a locative (byname based on place of residence), <de San
Framundo>. [1] This example uses the Latin preposition <de> and a
Latin form of the place name instead of the Sicilian preposition <di>
because it comes from a Latin-language document.
The women from the Palermo documents were all heads of households.
Most women's bynames were <di X>, where 'X' was the name of their
father or husband. Widows were often recorded as <vidua> 'widow'.
We also found examples of descriptive bynames (such as <la nanna>
'the grandmother' and <la Mammana> 'the midwife) and locative
bynames (such as <di Cusenza>, from Cosenza in Calabria). [2] If you
would like to pick a byname based on your father's name, please
write us again and we will be happy to provide you with masculine
names from this same time period and place. If you'd prefer a name
beginning with a particular letter or if you have some other
requirement, let us know and we'll do our best to accomodate it. If
you would like to use a locative byname, we recommend the following
article:
"Mercator's Place Names of Italy in 1554"
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/maridonna/mercator/
The section on place names in southern Italy and Sardinia is
particularly appropriate for you. Some of the names on the map were
recorded in Latin and some in Italian; once you've picked a place
name, feel free to write us again and we can recommend the correct
form of byname using this place name.
Another possibility that you might like is the byname <Siciliana>
'the Sicilian woman' or <Usticana> 'the Ustican woman'. While we have
not found examples of either of these in use at any time they follow
examples of <Pizano>, <Napolitano>, and <Montialbano>. [3] The <-o>
ending on an Italian acjective is masculine; the equivalent feminine
ending is <-a>. <Siciliana> is particularly suited for someone who
moved from Sicily to Ustica.
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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, and
Gunnvor silfraharr.
For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28 December 2004
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References:
[1] Friedemann, Sara L. "Names from 15th Century Naples" (WWW: Self-
published 2003).
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/naples.html
[2] Armando Di Pasquale _Palermo nel 1480. La popolazione del
quartiere della Kalsa_, Edizioni Mori, Palermo, 1975.
[3] Lyneya Fayrebowe of Busshopestrowe, "Palermo, Sicily, Italy:
Baptisms Records from 1561-1563". Unpublished research based on a
microfilm of a handwritten baptismal register, in the collection of
the Family History Library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
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Correction, Aryanhwy, May 2006: Added footnote to examples of
<la nanna> and <la Mammana>