ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3085 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3085 ************************************ 8 Jul 2005 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked if we could recommend 12th-14th century Provencal feminine names like that would be appropriate to use with the surname . Here is the information we have found. We didn't find anything especially similar to , but we can recommend some names that might appeal to you. In this list, the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter: [1] Melia (diminutive of ) (late 12th to mid-14th century) Me/lina (diminutive of ) (1230) Mengar, Mengarda (early 14th c) Mersen, Mersenda (early 14th c) Mossana (late 12th to mid-14th century) Marselha (mid-13th C); this is the Occitan name of used as a name If none of these appeal to you, please write us again and we can give you a larger list of feminine Provencal names beginning with . The example you found of is a man whose name was recorded in the 13th century as "Pons who is Mondrago". here is a grammatical form of a placename which is in modern French [2]. As you see, is a fragment of the full surname, and thus is not correct on its own; but we can suggest a couple alternatives. We don't know whether women were identified with the formula followed by a placename, so we can't recommend that specific form [3]; but alone as a surname is probably correct; and is probably also correct, using the appropriate grammatical form of the placename after the preposition. [4] 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Mor inghean Chathail, Arval Benicoeur, Ursula Georges, and Gunnvor Silfraharr. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 08 July 2005 -- References: [1] Brenon, Anne, _Le petit livre aventureux des pre/noms occitans au temps du Catharisme_ (Tolosa: Loubatie\res, 1992), s.nn. Melia, Me/lina, Mengardis, Mersendis, Mossana, Massalia. [2] Ramons lo Montalbes, "French/Occitan Names From The XII And XIII Century" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ramon/occitan/ [3] We believe that the form suggests personal ownership of the land X; while Provencal women may have owned land, this particular name construction may not be appropriate for a woman. [4] A song by the troubadour Raimbaud de Vaqueiras mentions one 'Sir Pons of Mondrago'. While we think that the spellings might have been modernized, the modernization appears to be light. Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, "El so que plus m'agensa (To the most delightful melody)" in "Troubadours" (WWW: no author, accessed 2 July 2005). http://www.cam.org/~malcova/troubadours/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras_01.php