ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2962 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2962 ************************************ 16 Nov 2004 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate given name for a 12th century German mercenary; and whether one of the bynames and are appropriate. Here is what we have found. is a fine name: Examples were recorded in southwestern Germany in the Latin form in 1107 and in the German spelling in 1289 [1]. We also have examples in western Germany in the first half of the 13th century and eastern Germany in the 14th century [2, 3]. A document from 1312 mentions a man called "Gerlach the warrior" [4]. The name was pronounced \GAIR-lahkh\, where \kh\ represents the raspy sound in the German word or in Scottish . The byname is a fine choice. It was recorded in that spelling in 1161 in the name , in 1197 , and in 1227 . In medieval German, the word meant "fighter" [5, 6]. Your other choice, , is also fine, but this may not be the most appropriate spelling. We found these examples [5, 6]: 1180 1188 1213 1225 1230 Throughout the 12th century, is probably an appropriate spelling; at the end of that century, may be appropriate as well. In medieval German, this word meant "one who damages; opponent" [5]. In summary, "Gerlach the fighter" or "Gerlach the opponent" are fine 12th century German names, probably most likely in southwestern Germany. In a Latin document, these names could have been written and . We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Nov 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p.17. [2] Talan Gwynek, "German Given Names 1200-1250" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germ13/ [3] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [4] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Krieger. [5] Brechenmacher s.nn. Stu"rmer, Schad. [6] Socin pp.267, 437.