ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3264
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3264
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3 Mar 2007
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Geoffrey le Gris d'Bretagne> is an authentic
name for a 13th century Frenchman living in Brittany.  Here is what we
have found.

The spelling <Geoffrey> is a modern English spelling which developed
from the Middle English form <Geffrey>. [2]  It therefore isn't a good
choice for a 13th century Frenchman.  Instead, we recommend any of
<Geffroi>, <Gefroi>, or <Gefroy>; all three of these are recorded in
Paris in 1292. [1]  On the whole, <Gefroi> appears to be the most
common spelling.

The Old French word <gris> 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 <Gris> 1176, 1193, <le
Gris> 1198, 1202, <Grise> 1317, and <Grys> 1327. [4]  Slightly after
your period we find two examples from Picardy: <Le Gris> in 1328 and
<Griset> (a diminutive) ca. 1390. [5]  Based on this, <le Gris> 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 <de Bretagne> '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: <Jehan de Bretaigne> and <Jehan de
Bretingni>.  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 <de Bretaigne> would be an ethnic byname,
e.g., either <le Breton> 'the Breton' or <le Bret> 'the Bret'. [6]

In sum, either of <Gefroi le Gris> or <Gefroi le Breton> is an
excellent choice for a 13th century Frenchman.  Less typical, but
still plausible, is <Gefroi de Bretaigne>.  In any of these names,
<Geffroi> or <Gefroy> 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 <griss> 'pig';
<griss> became <grise> or <grice> in Middle English, and French <gris>
became <gris> or <grice>, 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.