ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3186
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3186
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18 Sep 2006
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Dieterich Reuss> is an authentic name for a
German man living between 1450 and 1550; if it was not, you asked if
we could suggest forms of <Dieterich> that are appropriate to use with
<Reuss>, which you don't wish to change.  Here is what we have found.

Because you are most interested in the surname, we are discussing it
first.  The surname <Reuss> or <Reu{sz}>, where the {sz} represents
the German s-z ligature, has at least three distinct origins: [1]

* It can be from Middle High German <riu{sz}e> or <ru:{sz}e> 'Russian'
(the : in <u:> is an editorial marker denoting a long vowel).
* It can be a pet form of <Ruo{sz}>, a short form of <Ruodolf>.
* It can be an occupational name, from Middle High German <riu{sz}e>
'shoe-mender'.

We have examples of both <Reus> and <Reuss> in Baden-Wuerttemberg in
1495 and 1497, making <Reuss> a fine choice for your surname. [2,3] 
We also found an example of <Reu{sz}e> in 1511. [4]

A form of the name <Dieterich> is also a good choice for this period.  
We found the following late-15th century spellings of <Dieterich>:
[2,3,5]

    Dieterich
    Dietrich
    Diettrich

    Dietz
    Ditz
    Dyetz
    Dytz

The second group of forms are all pet forms.  Based on this, we can
recommend <Dieterich Reuss> as an excellent name for a late-15th
century German man living in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

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.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 18 September 2006

--
References:

[1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der
deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag,
1957-1960), s.n. Reu{sz}

[2] Uckelman, Sara L., "German Names from 1495" (WWW: privately
published, 2002-2006) 
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/german1495.html

[3] Uckelman, Sara L., "German Names from Nu"rnberg, 1497" (WWW:
privately published, 2005) 
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/nurnberg1497.html

[4] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry
(German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357), s.n. Reu{sz}

[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