ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3133 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3133 ************************************ 28 Jul 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know of or is an appropriate name for a Slovak woman living in the late 14th century or later. Here is the information we have found. As you know, resources for pre-1600 Slovak names are pretty much non-existent. [1] We therefore do not have that much we can tell you. The use of family names in Slovak started around the 14th-15th centuries. In various studies of surnames from post-1600 Slovakia, the most common type of surname is the patronymic surname (i.e., one based on a masculine given name). [1] We believe that this type was also the most common during your period. The surname (where the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter) exists in modern Slovakia, and it's possible that this arose from a native Slovak surname, rather than a borrowing from Russian. However, we cannot say for certain whether is an appropriate 14th century Slovak byname. If you are more interested in retaining the name you have chosen than in having a Slovak name, we note that is a fine 14th- century Russian byname; we find the masculine form in the early 15th century, and have no doubt that it is plausible earlier than that. [2] However, we haven't found any example of in Russian, so we cannot recommend as an authentic Russian name. Some form of this name is appropriate in Polish; we find in Polish in ca.1265, 1343, 1362, 1392, 1451, 1473, and 1491, among others, as well as 1391, 1425 and 1448. The Polish byname 'daughter of Mark' can be found in 1442, 1451, 1460, and 1474, and the spelling in 1427, 1429, and 1445 [3], so is a fine 15th century Polish name. We do not believe that is a plausible pre-1600 byname in any Slavic language. In Russian, , which we find in 1088, is a feminine form of the given name . [2] 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 Ursula Georges, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, and Ines Alfon. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28 July 2006 -- References: [1] Hajdu/ Miha/ly: _A/ltala/nos e/s magyar ne/vtan - Szeme/lynevek_. (_General and Hungarian onomastics - personal names_.) (Osiris tanko:nyvek, Budapest, 2003) notes that the earliest available data on Slovak given names is from the 17th and 18th centuries. [2] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names", 2nd edition (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ [3] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_ (Dictionary of Old Polish Personal Names), vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987, s.n. Magdalena