ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2997 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2997 ************************************ 20 Feb 2005 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if <Diana Kidder> is an appropriate name for an English woman living in Maresfield, Sussex during the reign of Henry VIII. If <Diana> is not appropriate, you asked if <Katherine> is appropriate. Here is what we've found. Henry VIII was king of England between 1509 and 1547. [1] We found examples of <Diana> in Northumberland in the 13th century and in Lancashire in 1349 [2,3], but then not again until 1580. [4] The example of <Diana> in Northumberland is Latinized; we believe that the spoken form at this time was either <Diana> or <Dian>, but we do not know for sure. We also found examples of <Diana> in 1591 and 1597, both from Durham or Northumberland, as well as a daughter of the second Earl of Exeter who was born in the early 17th century, and a <Diana> who was born 1596 and buried in Bedfordshire. [4,5,6] As you can see, most of these examples are from the north part of England, whereas Sussex is in the south. We simply don't have the data to say for sure whether <Diana> is an appropriate name for a woman born in Sussex, but the name is certainly a reasonable choice for the 16th century. <Katherine> is also a fine choice; it was quite common in the 16th century. [9,10,11] The surname <Kidder> was common in Yorkshire in 1379, and we also found the examples of <Kydder> during the reign of Elizabeth I, and in 1580 in London, as well as <Kidder> 1635-6. [7,8] <Kidder> is a fine choice for your surname. We should note that since Yorkshire is also in the north, <Diana Kidder> is a plausible name for a woman living in northern England. 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 you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Gunnvor Silfraharr, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Juetta Copin, Ursula Georges, Jillian Saint Andre, and Mari neyn Brian. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 20Feb05 -- References: [1] "Henry VIII, king of England" The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001-2004. www.bartleby.com/65/. [2] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK Gleerup, date unknown). s.n. Ankyrmayden [3] Uckelman, Sara L. "Names from 13th Century Northumberland" (WWW: Self-published, 2004) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/northumberland.html [4] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Diana [5] "Marriages from the Whickham Registers (1534-1654)" http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/Transcriptions/DUR/WHK1579.html [6] "Cecil Family" (WWW: Tudorplace.com, no date) http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/CECIL.htm#Diana%20CECIL%20(C.%20Oxford) [7] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Kidder [8] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). s.n. Kidder [9] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ [10] Christian de Holacombe, "Faire Names for English Folk: Late Sixteenth Century English Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 2000). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/christian/fairnames [11] In one study of names from Gloucestershire in the 16th century, forms of <Katherine> represented 6.07% of the names used by woman. [12] [12] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Naming Practices in 16th Century Gloucestershire" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 2001). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/GlocNamePractices lists the following forms of <Katherine>: Tot Average % by Spelling Cateren 3 0.01% Caterin 3 0.01% Catheren 1 0.11% Catherine 11 1.13% Catheryn 4 0.46% Catheryne 1 0.11% Kateren 51 0.24% Katerene 2 0.01% Katerin 47 0.22% Katerine 4 0.02% Kateryn 25 0.12% Kateryne 5 0.02% Kateryyne 1 0.00% Katherin 4 0.80% Katherine 16 1.26% Katheryn 3 0.89% Kathrin 2 0.45% Katryn 4 0.02% Katryne 1 0.17% Kattere 1 0.00%