ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2959 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2959 ************************************ 28 Dec 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if , a form of (where represents the Polish slashed ), is an appropriate given name for a 15th century Polish or Ukrainian mercenary. Here is the information we have found. The modern given name is a pet form of various Slavic names beginning in . [4] We did not find the particular spelling in any of our sources, though we found a number of other examples of and its pet forms. is the standard modern Polish form of this name, and the standard modern spelling of the pet form is . [1,2] Examples of the pet name in Polish that we found include 1427, who is almost certainly the same person who was recorded as (an inflected Latin form) in 1428; 1435; 1461 (this spelling uses German orthography and is found in a Latin context); and 1461. [2] We do not have any sources for specifically Ukranian names, so we are unable to offer any Ukranian forms of the name. However, we did find evidence that the name was used in Russia. The standard Russian form is , and examples of this name that we found include: [3] Miloslav - no later than the 13th c. Miloslaus - 1287 Milozlav - 1181 Milslav - 13/14 c. Mylozlaus - 1234 Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, whose letters are very different from those used in English and most other European languages. To include these spellings in this letter, we have transcribed the Cyrillic letters into Latin letters. The only exceptions are and , which were originally recorded as Latinizations of the standard Russian form. That is, they were originally written down with Latin letters. Russian examples of the pet form that we found include: [3] Milosh - 1052 Miloshek - second half of the 13th c. Miloshko - 1239 Milos - 1052 Milosh' - 1330 Mylos - 1234 Both <-ko> and <-ek> are diminutive endings. In , the <'> represents a soft sign in Russian. is likely from a document using the Roman alphabet, and not a Cyrillic one, so it is not indicative of the standard Russian forms; it is possible that it was recorded by a scribe in the border between Russia and Poland. These are all from significantly before your period; we do not know if it remained in use into the 15th century. Because forms of this name can be found both in Poland and Russia, we believe it's quite plausible for Ukraine as well. If you are interested in the pronunciation of any of these names, or help in forming a byname that would be appropriate to use, please write us again and we'll be happy to help. There are three main types of bynames that were in use in your period: patronymics (which identified your father's given name), locatives (which identified your place of residence), and descriptive nicknames. 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 Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Ursula Georges, Juliana de Luna, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, -Argantguia filia Catmaili, 28 December 2004 -- References: [1] Walraven van Nijmegen and Arval Benicoeur, _Polish Given names in Nazwiska Polako/w_ (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/walraven/polish/ [2] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _Sl/ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wrocl/aw: Zakl/ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). s.n. Mil/osz [3] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names", 2nd edition (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ [4] Schlimpert, Gerhard, _Slawische Personennamen in mittelalterlichen Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte_ (Berlin : Akademie-Verlag, 1978). p. 86, s.n. Milo{sv}