ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3255 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3255 ************************************ 12 Apr 2007 From: "Calybrid Ine Tere" Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us about the name for a French woman living in the 15th or 16th century. Here is what we found. While we did find evidence of the name , the only instances we found are masculine names in Cornwall and England [1]. When we looked for similar names in France, we found two possibilities. The French form of the name is , but the only examples we found are from after 1600; the name came into use in France in honor of a 16th century Italian saint, Angela Merici. Since she did not die until late in the time period you're looking at, she wouldn't have been popularized as a saint until well after our time period. Because of this we cannot recommend . The second similar alternative, , was found in the time period you requested. We have a reference which places in 1528, in Toulouse [2]. As we stated in our earlier report, is an acceptable place name [3]. Based on what we have found, we cannot recommend as a feminine French name during the 16th century. However, we suggest the similar as an acceptable alternative. We hope this information has been helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to write the Academy again. For the Academy, Calybrid Ine Tere April 12, 2007 Also contributing to this letter were: Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Ursula Georges, Coblaith Mhuimhneach, Adelaide de Beaumont ---------------------------- References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Angela [2] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/latefrenchfem/ [3] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #1719 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1719