ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3283 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3283 ************************************ From: "Lisa and Ken Theriot" 21 May 2007 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is a suitable given name for a Hungarian woman sometime between 1100 and 1350. You also asked whether a byname indicating an occupation as a fletcher was appropriate, and if not, you asked for suggestions for bynames. Here is the information we have found. Our sources for Hungarian names, especially feminine names, are extremely limited in your period. The earliest surviving connected text written in Hungarian dates from ca. 1190 [1]; even after that time, records from the 14th century, especially documents rich in names, such as legal and church records, were predominantly written in Latin. Accordingly, for the spelling of names, especially names borrowed through Latin (like many saints' names), we can't tell to what extent the spellings are Latinized, especially the early ones. That means that though these spellings are fine choices as recorded in a Latin document, we don't know how closely they resemble a name in everyday Hungarian usage of the period. We find the following forms of Katherine recorded during your period [2]: Caterina 1295 Cat(eri)na 1181 Catharina 1276/1641, 1278/XVIII Catherine 1249 Catrina 1181 Katarina 1291 Katherina 1265, 1274, 1279, 1297 Katerinam 1235-1269, 1270-1277 Katherine 1244, 1249/1416 Note the spellings , and feature endings that are a requirement of Latin grammar based on where the name appeared in a sentence. Dates given in a hyphenated range (1270-1277) indicate that the document covered several years, and it's impossible to tell in which year a record was entered. Dates given with a slash between (e.g., 1276/1641) mean that the name is recorded as being used in 1276, but the document only exists in a copy, in this case dated 1641 (the Roman numerals behind the slash indicate that the copy was made sometime in the 18th century). The letters in parentheses are a best-guess completion of an entry that probably appeared as , either due to damage to the record or as an abbreviation by the scribe. None of these spellings replaces the with an . Though this switch did become common in Hungarian by the 16th century, we can't be sure when it began. A modern survey conducted of all known feminine names recorded in Hungary before 1400 found to be the third most common name, but the data was normalized, i.e. the spellings were changed to the standard modern form of the name, so many of the examples may have actually been of or the like [3]. We have found the following later spellings based on a form of Katherine [4, 5]: Antal kataly"na 1598 fwle Catherina 1599 Istva/nffi Katalin 1519 Kathlen 1307 paloczy" katalin 1529 Here <"> indicates a double acute accent over the previous letter and a slash indicates a single acute accent over the previous letter. The example of in 1307, as well as in 1181 above are unusual in that they drop the middle syllable, something unexpected for a Hungarian name in your period. We recommend one of the spellings as being most typical for your period. If you moved your persona to the 16th century, would be a fine name, but we have insufficient evidence to recommend this particular form much earlier. It's important to note that though we find spellings beginning with in Hungarian records, the is a scribal artifact left from Latin spellings and does not reflect a genuine pronunciation. The English sound \th\, the initial sound in and , does not exist in Hungarian. The spelling would likely have been pronounced just like the spelling , roughly \KAWT-aw-ree-naw\. , and the spelling you asked about, , would have been pronounced roughly \KAWT-aw-leen\ [6]. Your other choice, , underwent a similar shift in spelling during your period and later. The survey referenced above found , with 171 examples, to be the fifth most popular feminine name before 1400, but again, is the standard modern form. We find the following examples in or near your period [2]: Elena 1131-1141, 1138/1329, 1272, 1273/1274, 1276/1641, 1283/1328, 1285/XIX, 1290, 1298/1298 Elene 1249, 1290 Helena 1146, 1230, [1241-1272]/XIV Helenam 1270-1277, 1277 Ilana 1254/1400, 1256/1410 Ilunka 1359 Here again, and show Latin endings required when the name is non-nominative, namely not the subject of the sentence. The spelling is a fine choice for your period as recorded in a Latin document. We believe that is a less Latinized version of the name, i.e., nearer a Hungarian form, and is suitable for at least the later part of your period. Very few women in your period appeared in records at all, and when they did, they were typically identified by their relationship to a man, being a daughter, wife, or widow, or even more than one, as in the 1295 record of 'Lady Caterina, wife of Perhtold, widow of Jacob, son of Endere of villa Beel'. We find a few women identified by their station, either noblewomen, identified as a lady or a queen, or religious, identified as a nun or prioress. One woman is recorded as 'Sister Catharina the singer'; we found one other woman described as 'nurse', but no other record of a woman listed with an occupation [7]. Several men appear in Latin records identified as ; this word typically means 'archer' but may occasionally refer to a maker of arrows as well. We have found no women identified in this way, nor have we found a woman identified as the daughter, wife, or widow of a man listed as a [8]. We recommend that you choose a masculine name for your father or husband; we'll be happy to help you use it to form an appropriate byname. You might find this article useful: Hungarian Personal Names of the 16th Century http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/magyar16.html Though the names in this article were recorded after your period, they continue a general trend toward the use of saints' names that began among the nobility in the 11th century and spread to commoners by the 1200s [10]. Most of the names, especially those you can identify as being saints' names, like 'Andrew' and 'John' will be appropriate for your period in some form. For example, 'Elena, daughter of Peter' is a fine name for your period (as recorded in a Latin document). 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. I was assisted on this letter with research and commentary provided by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Talan Gwynek and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 21 May 2007 References: [1] Sipos Lajos, ed.: _A Magyar nyelv e/s irodalom enciklope/dia/ja_ (Encyclopedia of Hungarian Language and Literature). Magyar Ko:nyvklub, 2002, p.85. The document appears as a photograph; the caption dates it to 1196. [2] Fehe/rto/i Katalin: _A/rpa/d-kori szeme/lyne/vta/r (1000-1300)_ (Onomasticon Hungaricum. Nomina propria personarum aetatis Arpadianae (1000 -1301)) (Akade/miai kiado/, Budapest, 2004, s.nn. Katarina (p. 450), Helena (p. 374), Ilonka (p. 408). [3] Hajdu/ Miha/ly: _A/ltala/nos e/s magyar ne/vtan_ (Budapest: 2003) p. 361; in a frequency table covering all feminine name occurrences up to 1400, is number 3 with 252 examples (11.3%) and is number 5 with 171 examples (7.7%). [4] Kiss Lajos, _Fo"ldrajzi nevek etimolo/giai szo/ta/ra_ (Etymological Dictionary of Geographical Names), 2 vols. Akade/miai Kiado/, Budapest, 1997, vol. 1 p. 771 s.nn. Kolto/katalin (p. 771), Katalinpuszta (p. 698), vol. 2 s.n. Szentkatalin (p. 561). [5] Ka/zme/r Miklo/s: _Re/gi magyar csala/dnevek szo/ta/ra_(Budapest, 1993), s.nn. Pa/lo/ci (p. 817), Fu:le (p. 380), Tollas. [6] Walraven van Nijmegen, "Hungarian Feminine Names" (WWW: Brian R. Speer, Privately published, 1998). is dated to 1557. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/magfem.html [7] Fehe/rto/i Katalin, p. 596 s.n. Olimpiades, 1276/1641: Soror Olimpiades; Domina Olimpiades nutrix et magistra istius virginis Margaretha uxor quondam comitis. [8] After your period, names were more commonly recorded in Hungarian, and we begin to find more occupational and descriptive names. A man was recorded in 1343 as and 1359, , 'John called "with arrow"' [5]. We don't know if the name was meant to indicate an archer, an arrow-maker, or a merchant who sells arrows, or even a landholder whose land has straight edges, delineated with a bowshot. A different man was recorded in 1389 or 'Blaise with feather', possibly indicating an occupation to do with feathers or quills ( also means 'pen') [5, 9]. There doesn't seem to be even a modern Hungarian surname that unequivocally means 'fletcher'. [9] Szamota Istva/n & Zolnai Gyula, _Magyar okleve/l-szo/ta/r_ (Hungarian Manuscript-Dictionary). Budapest, 1902-1906; facsimile reprint: A/llami Ko:nyvterjeszto" Va/llalat, Budapest, 1984, s.vv. nyilas, tollas. [10] Ka/lma/n, Be/la: _The World of Names, a Study in Hungarian Onomatology_ (Budapest: 1978) pp. 41-42.