ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3164 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3164 ************************************ 15 Jan 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help constructing a name appropriate for a Lithuanian woman living in Germany between 1300 and 1500, using a form of as your given name, and a byname based on the city Utena. You also asked about the arms "Argent, a chevron inverted purpure, in chief a paw print." Here is what we have found. As you noted, with the introduction of Christianity, many Lithuanians were christened with saint's names, so a form of is a fine choice. [1] If you lived in Germany or were among German speaking people, then a German form of the name is appropriate. Additionally, during your period there was a large German-speaking community in Lithuania, so it's quite possible that you could have been living in Lithuania and yet still speaking German. During our period, the dialects of German were separated into two main groups: Low German, in the north (including the German-speaking part of Lithuania), and High German, in the south (including Austria and Switzerland). We found the following 14th- and 15th-century German forms of : Katerina [4,7] Katharina [7] Katherein [3] Katherin [3,5,7] Katherina [3,4,5] Katherine [7] Katheryn [3,7] Katheryna [3] Kathrin [3,4] Kathrina [4] Katrina [4] Katteran [4] Katterein [4] Katterin [4] Katterina [4] The names from sources [3,4,5] are all from areas where High German dialects were spoken, whereas the examples from [7] come from a range of places. On the whole, the spelling is probably the best choice for a typical Low German spelling. [12] You noted that you were also interested in having a given name of Lithuanian origin which might have been converted to by the authorities. This indicates a small misunderstanding the use of Christian given names by Lithuanians: They were used in addition to native Lithuanian names, not instead of. [1] For more information about the types of names used by Lithuanian women in Lithuanian contexts, we recommend reference [11]. Family names in Lithuanian were coming into use during your period; they first appear towards the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th centuries. [1] The earliest types of bynames were patronymics, e.g., ones based on the bearer's father's given name, and almost all of our examples of Lithuanian women living in Lithuania have patronymic bynames. [11] However, a locative byname (one based on where you were from) is a fine choice if you are living in Germany. The city Utena is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It was first mentioned in 1261, in a letter from King Mindaugas to the Knights of the Sword. [6] A woman from Utena living in Germany could have had the byname 'from Utena'. Many of our references to Lithuanian names are recorded in Latin. We believe that is a reasonable Latin form of your name. If you are interested in how this name might have been rendered in Lithuanian, please write us again, and we'll be happy to research this further. Ethnic Lithuanians did not use armory until after 1386, when the nation was united with Poland. Most nobles in Lithuania were "adopted" into Polish rody ("political clans"), and thereafter used the arms of the Polish rod into which they were adopted. There were a few exceptions, such as the royal line(s) of Lithuania, who adopted unique coats (or may have had them from an earlier date). [8,9,10] We cannot recommend your choice of armory as good re-creation, as paw prints were not found in pre-1600 heraldry of any culture. Additionally, throughout all of Europe during our period, the tincture purpure was very rare, and so we recommend avoiding it. [12] 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 Ines Alfon, Walraven van Nijmegen, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, William Lyons of Portland, Ursula Georges, Asfridhr Ulvidhardottir, Eleyne de Comnocke, Aelfwynn Leoflaede dohtor, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 15 January 2007 -- References: [1] Schmalstieg, William R., "Lithuanian Names" _Lituanus_ 28, no. 3 (Fall 1982). http://www.lituanus.org/1982_3/82_3_01.htm [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Katharine [3] Uckelman, Sara L., "German Given Names from 1495" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2006). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/german1495.html [4] Uckelman, Sara L., "German Names from Nuernberg, 1497" (WWW: privately published, 2005). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/nurnberg1497.html [5] Uckelman, Sara L., "German Names from Rottweil, Baden-Wuerttemberg, 1441" (WWW: Self-published, 2005-2006) . http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/rottweil1441.html [6] Utena Tourism Information Centre, "History of Utena" (WWW: Utenainfo.com, no date). http://www.utenainfo.lt/anglu/ist.htm [7] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [8] Rim{s^}a, Edmundas (ed.), _The Heraldry of Lithuania_, vol. I (Vilnius: Baltos Lankos, 1998), p. 145 [9] Stone, Daniel, _The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795_ (Seattle: University of Washington Press, A History of East Central Europe, Vol. IV, 2001), pp. 71, 171 [10] Bajer, Piotr Pawel, _Polish Nobility and Its Heraldry: An Introduction_, (WWW: Szlachta.org, 2000) http://www.szlachta.org/heraldry.htm [11] Walraven van Nijmegen, "Feminine Names from the Gediminid Line of Lithuania" (WWW: Self-published, 2006) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/gediminidfem.html [12] Pastoureau, Michel, _Heraldry: An Introduction to a Noble Tradition_ (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997), pp. 101-2. [12] We recommend that you don't use a spelling with , as the overwhelming majority of the examples that we found, in German, Polish, Latinized German, and Latinized Polish contexts, all use .