ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2983
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2983
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20 Jan 2005
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked if we could help construct an appropriate medieval Hungarian
byname meaning 'son of Richard', and said that you believed that
<Riczifia> 'son of Ricza (Richard)' was correct.  Here is the
information we have found.

We found no evidence that <Richard> was borrowed into Hungarian before
modern times. [1]  While it is possible that a German immigrant named
<Richard> moved to a Hungarian town [4], we cannot speculate on what
Hungarian byname his son might have had.  In Latin, a son of Richard
would have been recorded as <filius Richardi>.

Names beginning with <R> are rare in medieval Hungarian, but we have
found some; they are listed below.  (The slash in some of them stands
for an acute accent over the preceding letter.)  All but the last are
masculine names, and all can be used as surnames.  Note, though, that
these are modern spellings; we'll be happy to try to find period
spellings for any that interest you. [2,3]

  Ra/d, Ra/da, Rado/ (from Slavic <Rad>)
  Rados (an old secular personal name)
  Ramocsa (an old secular personal name)
  Ra/told (from German <Ratold>)
  Ra/zma/n, Ra/zso/ (from German <Erasmus>)
  Re/de (an old secular personal name)
  Remek, Remes (from Latin <Remigius>)
  Roki (probably a diminutive of Ro/kus, an old ecclesiastic personal
        name)
  Roland, 1437, 1476
  Roma, Roma/n, Romo/ (from Latin <Romanus>)
  Rosko (from Rumanian <Roska>)
  Ro/zsa (from feminine <Rose>)

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 Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Walraven van Nijmegen, Juetta
Copin, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Gunnvor silfraharr.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 20 Jan 2005

--
References:

[1] A modern "name your baby" website lists <Richa/rd> and <Rika/rd>
as modern Hungarian names.  We have not found evidence for either of
these in Hungary before modern times.
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/hun2.html

[2] Ka/zme/r Miklo/s, "Re/gi Magyar Csala/dnevek Szo/ta/ra: XIV-XVII
Sza/zad" (Budapest, 1993).

[3] A 'secular' name is one that has its roots in Hungarian or a
Turkic language; an 'ecclesiastic' name is one that was adopted after
the conversion of Hungary to Christianity.

[4] We found examples of <Richard> and other variants in various parts
of Germany from the 13th century onwards. [5,6,7]

[5] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der
deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag,
1957-1960). s.nn. Richard, Richardi, Richards, Reichert

[6] Zoder, R., _Familiennamen in Ostfalen_. 2 vols. (Hildesheim:
1968). p. 32 has <magistrum Richardum Richardi> 1433; <Richard
Richardes> 1442

[7] Engel, Franz, _Die Mecklenburgischen Kaiserbederegister von 1496_,
Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 56 (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1968). p. 258
<Richert> 1496.