ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3046
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3046
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2 May 2005
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael (no address)

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Amy verch Richard> is an authentic name for a
Welsh woman living between 1200 and 1500.  Here is a brief letter with
the information we have found.

Your name is a fine choice for the 14th century on.  It appears that
<Amy> was used rarely by the Welsh during your period, but we found
one example in 1326. [1]  We also found <Amy> in the 16th century [2],
so while the name was never common in Wales, it's a reasonable name
for the 14th and 15th centuries.  In the 14th century, <Amy> was
pronounced \AH-mee\, but by the end of the 15th century this
pronunciation had shifted to something closer to \A-mee\, where \A\ is
the vowel in <cat>.

We also found examples of <Richard> in various forms from the 14th
century on, including <Ricardo> 1301, <Ricard> 1326 (most common),
<Richard> 1326, <Rychard> 1326, <Richett> 1352, and <Rigert> 1460.
[1,3]  <Ricard> was pronounced roughly \RIH-kard\.

During your period, the pattern <given name> <verch> <father's name>
was one of the most common name patterns, so the construction <Amy
verch Ricard> is fine. [4,5]

We hope that this brief 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 Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, Tangwystyl
verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Adelaide de Beaumont.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 01 May 2005

--
References:
 
[1] Willis-Bund, J.W.  _The Black Book of St. David's_ (British Museum
Additional Mss., No. 34,125.).  (London, The Honourable Society of
Cymmrodorion, 1902)

[2] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn),
"Women's Names in the First Half of 16th Century Wales" (WWW: Academy
of Saint Gabriel 1998).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welshWomen16/

[3] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff:
University of Wales Press, 1985). s.n. Richard

[4] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A
Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" (WWW: J.
Mittleman, 1996). 
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html

[5] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn),
"Women's Names in the First Half of 16th Century Wales" (WWW: Academy
of Saint Gabriel 1998).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welshWomen16/