ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3221
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3221
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16 Nov 2006
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Adelheide Hohenstein> is an authentic name for
a German woman living between 1200 and 1350.  If <Hohenstein> is not
appropriate, you asked about <Ho"ck> (where <o"> represents the
o-umlaut).  Here is what we have found.

As you've noted, the names <Adelheidis> and <Aleidis> can be found in
records from Arnsburg, Hessen, between 1200 and 1250. [1]  Other
examples, from German-speaking Switzerland and adjacent parts of
Germany (i.e., the Upper Rhine region in southwestern Germany),
include <Adelheidis> 1244, 1276, <Adeleidis> 1292, <Adelhedis>
sometime between 1289 and 1341, <Adelheit> 1296, <Adulhiet> sometime
between 1243 and 1341, and <Adelheid> ca.1140. [3]  All of the
spellings ending in <-is> are Latin spellings; both <Adelheit> and
<Adelheid> are typical German forms of the name, and <Adelheid> is a
fine choice for your given name.

Your first choice of byname is fine.  In 1229 we find a man recorded
(in Latin) as <C. miles de Ho[v]winstein> 'C. knight of
Ho[v]winstein'.  (Here, <o[v]> represents an <o> with a little <v>
above it; this is sometimes written simply <ou>, so the spelling
<Houwinstein> is also plausible.)  In another Latin record from 1256,
we have <U[o]l. de Howenstein> and in 1260, <U[o]lrich von
Howenstain>.  (Like above, <U[o]> represents an <o> superscripted over
the <U>; this is sometimes written simply <Uo>.)  Other 13th century
examples that we found include <Chu[o]nradus Howinstein> 1256,
recorded as <C. dictus Houwinstein> in 1270, <Conradus Howinstein> in
1274.  <dictus> means 'called', so <C. dictus Houwinstein> is 'C.,
called Houwinstein'.  We have another example of <dictus Howenstein>
from 1293. [2]

While all of these examples come from Latin records, we believe that
any of these forms are plausible German forms.  There are three types
of bynames based on place names which are appropriate for a woman of
your period.  The first is to use <von> plus the place name, e.g. <von
Howenstein>.  Specifically feminine forms don't use the preposition
<von>, but add a feminine ending.  These are <Howensteinin> and
<Howensteinerin>. [4]  (Any of these forms is appropriate with any of
the various spellings of <Howenstein> discussed above; we've picked
one just for ease of giving examples.)  Of these, we believe that
<Howensteinin> is the most usual.

In sum, <Adelheid Howensteinin> is an excellent 13th century German
woman's name.  In Latin, this name might have been recorded as
<Adelheidis de Howenstein> or <Adelheidis dicta Howensteinin> (<dicta>
is the feminine form of <dictus>). [5]

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, Talan Gwynek, and Walraven van Nijmegen.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 16 November 2006

--
References:

[1] Talan Gwynek, "German Given Names 1200-1250" (WWW: Academy of
Saint Gabriel, 1997).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germ13/

[2] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen
Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn,
1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), pp. 285, 349

[3] ibid., p. 51

[4] These two examples follow the example of <Katerina Ho[e]lsteinin>
from some unknown date in the 12th or 13th c, and <Judenta
Kolbzingerin> sometime between 1289 and 1341, both in Socin, op. cit.,
pp. 349, 356.

[5] Similar examples include <Gerdrudis dicta Ho[e]lsteinin> sometime
between 1289 and 1341, and <dicta Lowensteinin> 13th c, in Socin, op.
cit., pp. 349, 359.