ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3264 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3264 ************************************ 3 Mar 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for a 13th century Frenchman living in Brittany. Here is what we have found. The spelling is a modern English spelling which developed from the Middle English form . [2] It therefore isn't a good choice for a 13th century Frenchman. Instead, we recommend any of , , or ; all three of these are recorded in Paris in 1292. [1] On the whole, appears to be the most common spelling. The Old French word means 'grey', and was often used by people with grey-hair. [3] We haven't found any clear examples of this word use as a byname in France in your period, but we have a number of Anglo-French examples from this time, including 1176, 1193, 1198, 1202, 1317, and 1327. [4] Slightly after your period we find two examples from Picardy: in 1328 and (a diminutive) ca. 1390. [5] Based on this, would not be surprising at all in northern France in the 13th century. During your period, a man would've used just one given name and one byname at a time, and so we recommend that you do so as well. However, the byname that he used could vary in different circumstances. In particular, a byname such as 'of Brittany' is more likely to be used by someone who was no longer residing in Brittany. We have two examples of Parisian men recorded in 1292 with this byname: and . Either of these would be a reasonable choice. However, locative bynames (bynames based on place of origin) based on a region, instead of a specific city or town within that region, are fairly rare. More typical than would be an ethnic byname, e.g., either 'the Breton' or 'the Bret'. [6] In sum, either of or is an excellent choice for a 13th century Frenchman. Less typical, but still plausible, is . In any of these names, or is also a suitable spelling for the given name. 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, Ursula Georges, and Mari neyn Brian. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 03 March 2007 -- References: [1] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Geoffrey. [3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Grice. [4] ibid. Some of these may represent Old Norse 'pig'; became or in Middle English, and French became or , so in certain cases there's no way to distinguish the origins. [5] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [6] Geraud, Hercule, _Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'apre/s des documents originaux et notamment d'apre/s un manuscript contenant Le Ro^le de la taille impose/e sur les habitants de Paris en 1292_ (Paris: Crapelet, 1837), pp. 104:2, 162:2, 171:1, 174:1, 175:1, 177:1,2.