ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3193 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3193 ************************************ 26 Sep 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for a Frenchman living between the late 15th century and the end of the 16th century, and said that your significant other had chosen because it is related to the modern term 'fox'. Here is what we have found. appears to be a typo for , a masculine name which gave rise to a common surname. [1,2] This name is not related to any word meaning 'fox'. The modern French term for 'fox' is ; this word was used as a given name in the late 13th century (when we find the spelling [3]), though by your period we've only found examples of used as a surname. [2,4] We can therefore recommend as a good choice for this later period, but it doesn't refer to foxes at all; we cannot recommend as a suitable given name for this period, though it's a fine choice for a byname. During your period, would have been pronounced roughly \ray-n^yar\, where \n^\ is the sound of in . The byname , which we find in 1476 and 1477, most likely derives from the place , in Oise. [5,6] The was most likely silent, and so would've been pronounced roughly \or-ree\. 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, 26 September 2006 -- References: [1] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Re/gnier [2] Friedemann, Sara L., "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html [3] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [4] Uckelman, Sara L., "Names from Artois, 1601" (WWW: Self-published, 2002, 2004). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/french1601.html [5] Uckelman, Sara L., "Names from Choisy, France, 1475-1478" (WWW: Self-published, 2005) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/choisy.html [6] Dauzat, op. cit., s.nn. Hory, Orval