ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3217 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3217 ************************************ 17 Jan 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help constructing an authentic medieval Persian or Arabic feminine name, and said you were considering the Arabic name and the Persian variant or . Here is what we have found. Unfortunately, we have very few resources on Persian names; what we know of Persian feminine names is contained in source [1]. We were unable to find any information about the Persian form you asked about. About the Arabic name you're considering, however, we were able to find more information. The Arabic word (where the <.> represents a dot below the previous letter) means 'dawn' and refers to the third third of the night. While we did not find any examples of the word used as a given name, we did find both and , both of which mean 'dawn', used by slave women in Andalusia. [2,4] The word refers to the morning twilight, and morning prayer was called both and [3] Given our examples of (which is an alternate transliteration of ) and as names, we believe that is also a plausible name for an Andalusian slave. We also found examples of Andalusian slave women who were named 'light', so this would also be a fine choice for your given name if you wished to develop a slave persona. We would not recommend either or as a good name for a free woman, however. Most free women in Andalusia used names with religious or historical significance, rather than names with obvious literal meanings such as 'light'; we believe this reflects a broader pattern in Arabic naming. The phrase means literally 'dawn of the light'. We have found a few grammatically similar compounds which were used as complex given names by royal women in the Timurid and Safavid dynasties, which ruled Persia toward the end of our period: our examples include 'good of women' or 'best of women', 'glory of women', 'the wonder of beauty/grace', and 'the wonder of the kingdom/state'. [7,8] We haven't found any examples of this type of name used by ordinary women. This may be an artifact of our limited resources, or it could indicate actual differences in historical usage: We simply do not have the data to tell. [5,9,10] Because our data is limited, we must stress that our recommendations are in a large degree speculative. One might perhaps speculate that the compound could have been used as an honorific name for a concubine or wife of someone very important. (Note that though in is written with an , it would have been pronounced as if it were spelled .) However, we do not have enough data to determine whether is a plausible construction, nor do we know whether such names were used by ordinary women. 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 Ursula Georges, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Eleyne de Comnocke. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 17 January 2007 -- References: [1] Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Uckelman) & Ursula Georges (Ursula Whitcher), "Persian Feminine Names from the Safavid Period" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2004) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/persian.html [2] Mari/n, Manuela, _Mujeres en al-Andalus. Reflejos histo/ricos de su actividad y categori/as sociales._ Estudios onoma/sticos-biogra/ficos de Al-Andalus, 11. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cienti/ficas, 2000). [3] Bearman, P., Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, & W.P. Heinrichs, eds. _Encyclopaedia of Islam_ (WWW: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2006) http://www.brillonline.nl, subscription access required [4] As Islam had a strong impact on Arabic naming customs, we don't believe that the pre-Islamic tribesman named gives any support for the use of the name by Islamic Arabic women. [3] [5] Masculine titular names such as 'sword of the faith' and 'sword of the state', were often bestowed by the caliph on noteworthy military and political leaders, and indicated high status or rank. [6] [6] Da'ud ibn Auda, "Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices," (WWW: SCA.org, 2003) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm [7] Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Uckelman) & Ursula Georges (Ursula Whitcher), "Persian Feminine Names from the Safavid Period" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2004). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/persian.html [8] Woods, John E., _The Timurid Dynasty_, Bloomingon: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 1990. [9] Ursula Georges, "Persian Masculine Names in the Nafah.a^t al-uns" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2004) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/nafahat/ [10] Such compound names were also used by men; Woods (op. cit.) has 'the wonder of his age' and 'light of the faith', both of which were used by men other than the Timurids. We also found the masculine compound name 'glory of the faith' in our period. [11] [11] "al-Razi, Fakhr al-Din (1149-1209)" (WWW: Muslim Philosophy.com, no date) http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H044.htm