ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3107 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3107 ************************************ 6 Jun 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate given name for a Norman man in England, preferably living in the 12th century. Here is a brief letter with the information we have found. The name is derived from the Old English masculine name . Like many Old English names fell out of common use after the Norman invasion. [5] We found the Latinized form recorded c. 1250 [1], but it then appears to have been extremely rare until the 16th century, when we find examples of the spellings , , , and , all recorded in Durham and Northumberland. [2,3,4] An Old English name is probably not the best choice for a Norman. In general the trend was very much in the other direction: after the Norman conquest, most of the native Old English names were going out of use, and the native Saxons were adopting the names imported by the Normans. It's not at all unusual to find a child of English parents being given a Continental name; but the reverse is quite rare. If you would like to consider other choices that would be more appropriate for a Norman living in England, we recommend the following articles; of course, the names which are labeled as Old English are not good choices. "Given Names from Early 13th Century England" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/eng13/ "Names from 13th Century Northumberland" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/northumberland.html "An Index to the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland, England" http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/Rutland/ 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 Talan Gywnek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Juetta Copin, Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Maria Abramsdottir. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 06 June 2006 -- References: [1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Oswin [2] "Marriages from the Newcastle St Andrews Registers (1600-1649)" (WWW: Genuki, 1996). http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/Transcriptions/NBL/NSA1600.html 16 Feb 1606* Oswin Genings = Margrat Rotherforth [3] "Marriages from the Durham St Oswald Registers (1538-1734)" (WWW: Genuki, 1996). http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/Transcriptions/DUR/DSO.html 19 Jan 1573* Oswen Snawdon = Annes Huchyson [4] "Marriages from the Ryton Registers (1581-1699)" (WWW: Genuki, 1996). http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/Transcriptions/DUR/RYT1581.html 4 Feb 1599* Oswen Pattison = Grace Killerbie ?? Nov 1612 Oswine Oliver = Isabell W... [5] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988) s.n. Oswin notes that the name remained in use until the 14th C.