ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3256 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3256 ************************************ 28 Feb 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if the name , which you'd found on a tombstone, is an authentic late 14th century Hungarian masculine name, and whether it could also have been used in England. Here is what we have found. The name is almost certainly not Hungarian; we know of no Hungarian surname which could have been spelled . Without more details of the tombstone that you found, we cannot say for sure what nationality the original bearer was, but one reasonable possibility is that he was Polish. In 1389 we find the Polish given name , and in 1382 we find the name spelled . These are both Polish forms of the German given name , which is a pet form of . [1] In Bohemia, gave rise to a byname, which we find in the following forms: [2] Zeydl 1425 Zeidl 1431, 1534, 1558 Seydlin 1483 (this is a feminine form) Zajdl 1494, 1540 Seydel 1497 Seidell 1523 Seydell 1525, 1560 Zaydl 1535-48 (two examples), 1545, 1554 Seidel 1542 Seydl 1543, 1544, 1553 Zejdl 1545 Seudl 1560 The spellings with are characteristically Czech. There's no reason to think that a man born in England to English parents and living in England would have used any of these as his surname. However, it would not be impossible for a German man surnamed to end up living or visiting in England in the 14th century (especially if he was a merchant). What form the surname would take in English during this period we don't know, but we can research this further for you if this is a route your SO is interested in. Forms of were used in England, Germany, Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary in your period; however, because we are not sure what direction your SO would like to take in developing his name, we are not going to go into a discussion of this name here. We'll be happy to research further in any of the cultures mentioned above depending on his preferences (i.e., an English name, a Hungarian name, a name using , etc.) We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that when you'd like further information or if any part was unclear you won't hesitate to write us again. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, Adelaide de Beaumont, Eleyne de Comnocke, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 28 February 2007 -- References: [1] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_ (Dictionary of Old Polish Personal Names), vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987), s.n. Zydel. [2] Schwarz, Ernst. _Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts_ (Mu"nchen: Robert Lerche, 1973), p. 275.