ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2995 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2995 ************************************ 19 Jan 2005 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Englishman in the second half of the 16th century. Here is what we have found. was not a common name in England. We have a few examples of in your period, 1591 in Buckinghamshire and two examples from 1577 and 1558 that we can't pin down to a particular location [4, 5]. We have examples of the pet form in Cornwall 1565-6 and in London 1599. The Cornishman was also called in 1607 [7]. The name was perhaps more common in Cornwall than elsewhere [6]. The surname is native to the north of England. It is derived from a placename ; there is one such place in Yorkshire West Riding [1]. The name is recorded in Durham as , , , and in the late 1500s and the early 1600s [2], and as in Yorkshire in 1602 [3]. The upshot is that is not a particularly likely name, but if it occurred it would have been in Durham or Yorkshire. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 19 Jan 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. Snaith. [2] Julie Stampnitzky, "Surnames in Durham and Northumberland, 1521-1615" (WWW: privately published, 2001). http://www.yucs.org/~jules/names/parish/surnames.html [3] Hitching, F. K., and S. Hitching, _References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602_. (Walton-on-Thames, 1910-11; Baltimore: republished for the Clearfield Company, Inc. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1998, ISBN 0-8603-0181-3). [4] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Given Names in Chesham, 1538-1600/1" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/chesham/ [5] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Names of Members of the Frobisher Voyages, 1576-1578" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/frobisher/ [6] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Sebastian. [7] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.n. Bastian.