ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3238
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3238
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14 Dec 2006
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Thomas Hauptmann> is an authentic name for a
German man living between 1100 and 1600.  Here is what we have found.

We found a few examples of this surname, during the 14th and 15th
centuries, including: [1,6,7]

   Haupmon    1373
   Haupman    Prague 1377
   Hapman     near Eger 1395
   Hauptman   1398
   Hauptmann  Leipzig 1489

We also found a man from Liegnitz in 1415 who was recorded as
<hewptman> and court justice, and another in Goerlitz recorded as <der
houptman> in 1408.  However, in these two examples, <der houptman> and
<hewptman> were not part of the men's names. [1]

Based on this, we therefore recommend that you place your persona
sometime in the 14th century or later; indeed, the later you go, the
more typical the spelling <Hauptmann> becomes.  We find <Thomas>
throughout this period, in Silesia, Arnsburg, Plauen,
Baden-Wuerttemberg, and Mecklenburg, so it's a fine choice for your
given name. [2,3,4,5]
 
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.  Additional research and commentary on this letter
was provided by Talan Gwynek.
 
For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 14 December 2006

--
References:

[1] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry
(German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357), s.n. Hauptmann.

[2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised
edition (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/

[3] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period German Masculine Given Names" (WWW:
Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germmasc/

[4] Uckelman, Sara L., "German Names from 1495" (WWW: privately
published, 2002-2006)
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/german1495.html

[5] Uckelman, Sara L., "15th Century Low German Men's Names from
Mecklenburg" (WWW: Self-published, 2005-2006)
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/mecklenburg.html

[6] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der
deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag,
1957-1960), s.n. Hauptmann

[7] Schwarz, Ernst, _Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus vorhussitischer
Zeit_ (Koeln: Blehlau Verlag, 1957), s.n. Hauptmann