ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3265 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3265 ************************************ 18 Mar 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help creating a name authentic for a French woman living between 1100 and 1400, with as your given name, and , , or as your byname. Here is what we have found. We do not have much information about French names in the first half of your period. In the sources that we do have from the 12th century, the majority of women are recorded with just a single given name and no byname. [5] Our first fairly large source for French names is from the end of the 13th century. We have therefore focused on names appropriate for the late 13th and 14th centuries. Your choice of given name is fine. In Paris in 1292, we find a number of variants of , including , , and the pet forms , , and . [1] In early 15th century Paris, we find , , , and the pet form [2], so we're confident that is suitable throughout the 14th century as well. A byname based on 'garden' is a fine choice for the 14th century; we find 1306 and 1315 both recorded in Picardy. [3] We also found, just after your period, 'of the gardens' 1421 in Paris. [2] You said that you'd chosen to mean 'of the river'. The French word refers to large rivers, ones that flow directly into the sea. The word which covers both large rivers and small rivers is . [4] We haven't found any French bynames which use the word , but we have found both and in early 15th century Paris. [2] The form also occurs in Picardy in 1386. [7] Either of these is a fine choice for the end of your period. The word is a vocalized form of Old French 'boat'. Both and gave rise to surnames which survived till modern times; in both cases, the surname is a nickname for a batelier, a boatman or ferryman. [8] The term , which dates from the early 13th century, also was used as a surname. [9,10] The feminine form of is 'the boatwoman'; we find one example of this feminine form in Paris in 1292. [11] For a byname referring to boats, we recommend ; or are also possible. We do not recommend , as we haven't found any byname meaning 'of the boat'. You'd also mentioned that you were originally considering as a byname either 'of the moon' or 'of the night sky'. You're right that neither of these is in keeping with medieval French bynames of any period. However, we do have an option which might interest you. The modern French city Lunay was called 'church of Lunay' c. 1330. The name derives from a masculine name which is either from Celtic 'effigy' or from Latin 'moon'. [6] The byname would also be a fine choice for your period. 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 Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 18 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] Friedemann, Sara L., "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html [3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967), p. 359. [4] _Dictionnaires d'autrefois_ (WWW: ARTFL Project, no date), s.vv. fleuve, riviere. http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/dicos/ [5] Morlet, Marie-The/re\se, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Sie\cle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1968, 1972, 1985). [6] ibid., III:122a. [7] Morlet, _Picarde_, op. cit., p. 322. [8] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Batel. [9] ibid., s.n. Batelier. [10] Robert, Paul, _Le Petit Robert 1: Dictionnaire alphabe/tique et analogique de la langue franc,ais_ (Paris: Le Robert, 1985), s.v. batelier. [11] 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), p. 486.