ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3003 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3003 ************************************ 31 May 2005 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if or is an appropriate given name for a French woman living before 1600. Here is the information we have found. France today is a unified country with a common language. That was not true in our period: Pre-modern France was home to several languages, each of which was used in a range of dialects, some quite similar, some quite different. The most significant division was between the langue d'oil, or French, spoken in the north, and the langue d'oc, also called Occitan or Provencal, spoken in the south. These were different languages, not just dialects of the same language, and names in them were often quite different. is the modern French name of a female saint from Provence who lived in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. [1] This name derives from Latin , which was the name of a 4th century bishop of Bordeaux. gave rise to a masculine given name that led to the modern name . , in some form, was used in the 12th and 13th centuries as a given name in Auvergne and Dauphine/ (where the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter). The given name became hereditary in the family of the rulers of Viennois, who took it as a title. For this reason, the county was eventually renamed Dauphine/. [2] We found three examples of the French feminine form , one in the 13th century, one in 1461, and another in 1510 and 1511. [3,7] While our sources converted all of the medieval spellings of the names to modern spellings, we believe that is a plausible 13th century spelling of the name and that is a reasonable 15th or 16th century spelling of the name. We also found two example of Provencal women named in records from between 1380 and 1385. [4] We have found no clear evidence that the spelling was used in our period. is the learned form of the word for 'dolphin', and it gave rise to the modern surname . This suggests that might also have existed in our period. However, our first clear examples of are from the 18th century. [6,8] It is also possible that the name was adopted into French in modern times from the Greek . We can therefore recommend for a 15th- or 16th-century French woman or as a 14th-century Provencal woman. You asked for suggestions for surnames. The type of surname that is appropriate will depend on both your time period and place. For a later-period French woman, we recommend you browse the surnames found here, all of which are appropriate to use with : "French Surnames from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/paris1423surnames.html "Late Period French Surnames (used by women)" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/latefrenchsurnames.html Because can also be used as a title, we recommend that you not pick a surname based on a place name. A name like might run afoul of the rules of the SCA College of Arms [5]. For a 14th-century Provencal woman, we can recommend the surnames found here: "Occitan Townspeople in the 14th Century" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/occitan/ "Feminine Names from Pe/rigueux, 1339-1340" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/perigueux.html 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 Florens van Flardingh, Arval Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, and Gunnvor silfraharr. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 31 May 2005 -- References: [1] July 2002 Letter of Acceptances and Return, s.n. Delphina the Mad http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar/2002/07/02-07lar.html [2] Morlet, Ma/rie-The/re\se, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997). s.n. Dauphin [3] Archives nationales (France), Hommages rendus a\ la Chambre de France: Chambre des comptes de Paris, se/rie P, XIVe-XVIe sie\cles: inventaire analytique (Paris: Les Archives: Diffuse/ par la Documentation franc,aise, 1982-1985.), volume 1, entry 4 & entry 1311, volume 3, entry 1025. [4] _L'Assiette de l'impo^t direct a\ la fin du XIVe sie\cle: le livre d'estimes des consuls de St-Flour pour les anne/es 1380-1385_ / Albert Rigaudie\re; pre/f. de Jean Favier. (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, c1977.) pp. 312, 382 [5] RfS VI.1 "Names documented to have been used in period may be used, even if they were derived from titles, provided there is no suggestion of territorial claim or explicit assertion of rank. For example, 'Regina the Laundress' is acceptable but 'Regina of Germany' is not." [6] "History et Genealogy of family LATIL, in Provence and in Louisiana, since the 15th Century" (WWW: LATIL.org, 2003 - 2005) http://www.latil.org/eng/eng_latil_seigneurs_chasteuil.htm has Claude de Latil marrying Delphine de Demandols in 1710. "Informations ge/ne/alogiques" http://perso.wanadoo.fr/claude.gleyal/Site1/dat171.htm has marrying in 1758. [7] "Dauphine de Saint-Bonnet" (WWW: Hubert Houdoy, 2004) http://hubert.houdoy.perso.cegetel.net/daupsabo.htm [8] A number of web pages mention medieval women named , but we don't know to what extent these pages modernized the names: http://www.vernede.speedlinq.nl/uk/uk_kaartenbak_humo_gen/347.htm has a , eldest child of a man described as dying 'after 1525'. http://vaslo.free.fr/Fiches/D3/P46.htm lists 1535-1539. http://vaslo.free.fr/Fiches/D5/P28.htm#28 lists , born 1265. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/claude.gleyal/Site1/dat171.htm has marrying in 1758. http://pdelyon.free.fr/Fiches/D1/P111.htm lists , ca.1300 - 1349, Dame de Boissie\res et Calamane http://www.gros.nom.fr/pag103.htm#38 mentions a , born ca.1310