ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3306
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3306
************************************

30 May 2007
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked for help developing an authentic medieval English name.  You
said you wanted to use as your byname a derivative of Avalon that is
connected with apples.  Here is what we have found.

We have found no evidence that any form of <Avalon> was ever used in
English bynames.  If you want to develop an authentic English name, we
recommend that you pick a different byname.  Since a reference to
apples is important to you because of their presence in your arms, you
might be interested in following bynames based on English place names
which contain the element <apple>.  Some of these bynames are based on
names of towns or cities, and some originally referred to some generic
topographical element.  In parentheses after each name, we have listed
the historic English counties where towns by these names can be found
[3], or given a gloss of their generic meanings.

  Appleby (Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Westmorland)
  -----------------------------------
  de Appelbi      1163 [1]
  de Apelby       1204 [1], 1367 [4]
  de Appelby      1273 [4]
  de Appilby      1319 [2]
  de Appleby      1372, between 1377 and 1378, 1379, [4]

  Appledore
  -----------------------------------
  Apeldore        1273 [4]
  atte Apeldor    1327 [4]

  Appleford (Berkshire, Isle of Wight)
  -----------------------------------
  de Appelford    1206, 1247 [1]
  de Apelforde    1273 [4]
  de Appelford    1273, between 1291 and 1292 [4]

  Applegarth (Yorkshire, Cumberland, or 'an apple orchard')
  -----------------------------------
  de Apelgart     c1115 [1]
  de Appelgart    between 1135 and 1154 [4]
  de Apelgard     1273 [4]
  del Apelgargh   1273 [4]
  Appelgarth      1279 [1]
  del Appelgarthe 1297 [1]
  del Appelgarth  between 1316 and 1317 [4]

  Applethwaite (Cumberland, Westmorland, Suffolk)
  -----------------------------------
  Appelthweit     1327 [1]
  Apylweyte       1524 [1]

  Appleton (Cheshire, Kent, Yorkshire, or 'homestead where apples are 
     grown')
  -----------------------------------
  de Lepeltone    c1182 [1]
  de Appleton'    1196 [1]
  de Appelton     1273 [4]
  ate Napeltone   1317 [1]
  ate Apiltone    1317 [1]
  de Apulton      1369 [4]
  de Appleton     1376 [4]
  de Appilton     1379 [4]

  Appleyard (Yorkshire, or 'apple orchard')
  -----------------------------------
  del Apelyerd    1273 [4], 1275 [1], 1379 [4]
  del Apelyard    1315 [1]
  de Appilyerd    1375, 1386 [4]
  del Appilyerd   1379 [4]

We also found the surname <Appelman> in 1342; this is a descriptive
surname which would have been used by someone who works with apples. [4]

Any of these is a fine choice for your byname.

If you haven't chosen a given name yet, we recommend the following
article as a good source:

  "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_"
  http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/

We hope that this letter will be 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 Mari ingen Briain, Wenyeva atte Grene, and Tangwystyl
verch Morgant Glasvryn.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 30 May 2007

--
References:

[1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995).

[2] Uckelman, Sara L., "Names in the 1319 Subsidy Roll of London"
(WWW: Self-published, 2006) 
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/london1319.html

[3] For a list of the historic counties of England where they are
located, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_counties_of_England

[4] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.nn. Appleby,
Appeldore, Appleford, Applegarth, Appleman, Appleton, Appleyard.