ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3210 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3210 ************************************ 28 Oct 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for our help constructing an authentic 15th century feminine name appropriate for a woman living in Germany whose given name is and who is married to someone named . Here is what we have found. is a fine choice for your given name; we find the name recorded in Arnsburg in the 15th century. [1] is the name of a place near Me{sz}kirch (where {sz} represents the s-z ligature); in 1244 we find a man named , who was also recorded as 'Hainrich called of Raste' in Latin. [2,3] Just before your period we find a in 1392 who was recorded as in 1398. [3] means 'man from Rast'. We believe that either or is a fine choice for your husband's surname. As we noted, our example of comes from Arnsburg. Throughout your period, German women from this region usually used the feminine form of their husband's or father's surname. [4,5,6] Therefore, we can recommend either or as good choices for your byname; is also possible, but it is less typical. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28 October 2006 -- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "15th-Century German Women's Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/german15f.html [2] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357), s.n. Rast [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Rast(er) [4] Uckelman, Sara L., "Women's Surnames in 15th- and 16th-Century Germany" (WWW: Self-published, 2005-2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/womenssurnames.html [5] Unpublished research of Talan Gwynek based on extensive Middle High German data. [6] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_ (Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and the Historischen Kommission fu:r Hessen, 1974), passim.