ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3298 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3298 ************************************ 12 Apr 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if either or (where the ^ represents a circumflex accent over the previous letter) is an authentic pre-1600 French feminine name, preferably in the 13th century. You said that you intended the name to mean "Catherine of Cold Castle". Here is what we have found. Neither nor are French names; is a Spanish form and is Italian. [1,2] In 13th-century French, the name was spelled , , , or . [3] We recommend any of these four spellings as appropriate choices for your period. We have found no evidence that either or any word meaning 'cold' was ever used in French place names. We therefore cannot recommend any French form of which would be authentic for any time period. We recommend that you chose a different byname, or if the reference to Coldcastle is very important to you, that you consider developing an English persona. If you decide to go this route, we'll be happy to research within an English context. 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, Margaret Makafee, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, and Coblaith Mhuimhneach. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 12 April 2007 -- References: [1] Elsbeth Anne Roth, "16th Century Spanish Names" (WWW: Self-published, 2002) http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/heraldry/spanish16/ [2] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/ [3] 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