ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3231 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3231 ************************************ 30 Nov 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for a Jewish German woman living between 1000 and 1600, but preferably in the 16th century. Here is what we have found. was a moderately popular name among Christians in 13th and 14th century Germany. We found it recorded as in 1375 and 1383 and in the Latinized form in the first half of the 14th century and again in the early 15th century. We also found the pet forms , , and in 14th century, and in the 15th century. [1,2,5] During the 12th to 14th centuries, Jews in western and central Europe occasionally borrowed this name [3], but the latest examples (before modern times) we have of the name used by German Jewish women is from 1359. As we don't have any clear evidence that the name was even used by Christians in the 16th century, we therefore don't recommend it as the best re-creation for that period. If you want to use the name for a Jewish person, we recommend that you place your persona no later than the 14th century. During this period, was pronounced roughly \so-FEE-@\, and all of the pet forms were pronounced \FEE-@\, where \@\ represents the schwa sound at the end of . The byname comes from the Middle High German . A vederspil was 'a bird trained to falconry, a falcon, sparrowhawk, or hawk', and the derived word means 'falconer'. [6] In hunting usage, the word can also refer to a lure used to train falcons to hunt. [7] We've found only one example of this byname during your period: recorded in Stutgart in 1500. [4] However, it's possible that the word was used as a byname earlier; the word , which also refers to a type of training lure, occurs as the byname of in 1185. [7] If was used occasionally as a byname, we believe that it would've been spelled through the 13th century, and thereafter. We can therefore tentatively recommend as an appropriate 14th century byname. However, it may not necessarily be appropriate in a Jewish name, much less a Jewish woman's name; we don't have enough information to say for sure. 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, Juetta Copin, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 30 November 2006 -- References: [1] 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), pp. 39, 40. [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1998). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/bahlow_v.htm [3] Beider, Alexander, _A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names: Their Origins, Structure, Pronunciation, and Migrations (Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2000), p. 574, s.n. Sofle [4] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357), s.n. Federspiel [5] Engel, Franz, _Die Mecklenburgischen Kaiserbederegister von 1496_, Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 56 (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1968), p. 59, nr. 310; p. 90, note on nr. 310. [6] _Mittelhochdeutsches Handwo"rterbuch von Matthias Lexer_. Zugleich als Supplement und alphabetischer Index zum Mittelhochdeutschen Wo"rterbuche von Benecke-Mu"ller-Zarncke. Nachdruck der Ausg. Leipzig 1872-1878 mit einer Einleitung von Kurt Ga"rtner. 3 Bde. (Stuttgart: S. Hirzel 1992), s.v. ve"der-spil http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/lexer/wbgui?lemid=LV00488 [7] Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm, _Deutsches Wo"rterbuch_, 16 Bde. [in 32 Teilba"nden]. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel 1854-1960. -- Quellenverzeichnis 1971), s.v. federspiel http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemid=GF01738