ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3285 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3285 ************************************ 20 Mar 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if or is an authentic name for a 15th century Spanish man. Here is what we have found. is an excellent choice for your given name. In one study of Spanish names from the late 15th century, was the third most popular masculine given name. [1] is a short form of the placename in Galicia, near Portugal. 'of Santiago' wasn't a common surname, but we have found a couple 13th century examples and believe it would be a fine choice for the 15th century as well. [2,3] is a less suitable choice. In general, Spanish locative bynames (bynames which indicate the bearer's place of origin) were based on the names of individual cities (such as above), and not on the names of regions. Instead, residence in a region was indicated with an adjectival byname. This explains why we haven't found any examples of , but we have found examples of 'Galician man', in Leon in 1318 and 1330, and in Valencia in 1510. [5,6] is therefore certainly reasonable for the 15th century as well. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti and Elsbeth Anne Roth. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 20 March 2007 -- References: [1] Juliana de Luna, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999-2000). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/ [2] Ferna/ndez Flo/rez, Jose/ A., _Coleccio/n diploma/tica del monasterio de Sahagu/n (857-1300): Volume V (1200-1300)_, Centro de estudios e investigacio/n San Isidoro, Caja Espan~a de inversiones, Caja de ahorros y Monte de Piedad, 1994. [3] While we don't have an explicit example from your period, there is a fourteenth century record referring to the archbishop of Santiago, and as it was a fairly substantial town, it seems likely that the locative byname remained in use. [4] [4] Unpublished research of Juliana de Luna. [5] Friedemann, Sara L., "Leonese Names from the First Half of the 14th Century" (WWW: Self-published, 2003) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/spanish/leonfarmer.html [6] Uckelman, Sara L., "Catalan Names from the 1510 census of Valencia" (WWW: Self-published, 2005-2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/spanish/valencia1510.html