ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3136 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3136 ************************************ 8 Aug 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a German man living between 1350 and 1600. Here is the information we have found. In our period, there wasn't a uniform German language, but rather a collection of dialects that varied from one region to the next. These dialects fall into two major groups: Low German in the north and High German in the south, including Switzerland and Austria. Some names were used only in one region (and therefore only in one dialect) or another; other names were used in all dialects but spelled or pronounced differently in each dialect. Therefore, your choice of name may depend on exactly what part of Germany you want to re-create. The surname is derived from the Middle Low German 'butcher'. We found a number of forms of this surname in your period, including: Knochinhower 1341, Kassel [1] de Knokenhowere 1368, Eastphalia [5] Knokenhower 1422, Barth [1] der Knokenhower 1428, Oldenburg [2] Knakenhouwer 1481, Oldenburg [2] Knakenhauwer 1496, Mecklenburg [4] All of these except the first are from the part of Germany where Low German dialects are spoken, and Kassel is right on the boundary between the Low and High German dialect areas. Because this surname derives from a Low German word, we have focused on Low German forms of . in various spellings was a common given name throughout Germany. In 1496 we find two men from Mecklenburg recorded as and ; it's not clear whether this is their given name or their surname, but in either case this provides information about how the name occured in some Low German contexts. In the same year, we also found a . [6] We also found the following: [7] Vrederekes 1350 (this is the possessive form of ) Vicke 1351, 1450/1 Fricke 1352, 1456, 1504, 1523, 1585 Frederik 1369, 1407, 1431, 1456 Fritzen 1385 (this is the possessive form of or ) Frick 1446 [9] Ffrittze 1522 Friedrich 1576/7, 1585 Given our limited data, we believe that is the most likely spelling of the full form of the name. However, the most typical form would be one of the diminutives such as and , which on the whole seem to be more common than the full form. [3,8] Based on this, a name such as is a fine choice, though a form such as is probably more typical. We recommend instead of because is the standard Dutch and Low German form of 'the'. 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 Talan Gwynek, Ines Alfon, Juliana de Luna, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 08 August 2006 -- References: [1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Knochenhauer [2] ibid., s.n. Knakenhouwer [3] Uckelman, Sara L., "15th Century Low German Men's Names from Mecklenburg" (WWW: Self-published 2005-2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/mecklenburg.html has and , but no example of the full form. [3] [4] Engel, Franz, _Die Mecklenburgischen Kaiserbederegister von 1496_, Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 56 (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1968), p. 180 [5] Zoder, R., _Familiennamen in Ostfalen_. 2 vols. (Hildesheim: 1968), p. 130 [6] Engel, op. cit., pp. 251, 285, 287 [7] Zoder, op. cit., pp. 30, 47, 48, 51, 69, 74, 84, 108, 111, 133, 140 [8] Engel, op. cit., pp. 148, 171, 228, 252, 303 [9] Dziuba, Bernhard. _Familiennamen nach Freiburger Quellen des 12.-15. Jahrhunderts_ Forschungen zur Oberrheinischen Landesgeschichte, Band XVIII (Freiburg im Breisgau: Eberhard Albert Verlag, 1966), pp. 131