ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3314 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3314 ************************************ 11 May 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for an Italian woman born in Faenza around 1450 and now living in Florence. Here is what we have found. Italy acquired a standard language only in the 19th century. Even today, very distinct dialects of Italian remain in common use. These dialects can be grouped into three main groups: northern, central, and southern. The dialect spoken in Florentine in the 15th century falls into the central category. One of the 15th-century members of the dei Medici family was named . Various letters that she wrote have survived, and they included examples of how she spelled her name. In 1458 we find it spelled and in 1472 as . We can therefore recommend either of these spellings as excellent choices for an Italian woman living in Florence in the late 15th century. [1] The most famous bearer of the surname is the artist Artemisia Gentileschi. Artemisia was born in Rome, and her surname appears to be most common in the south of Italy. [2] We find recorded in Abruzzo in 1447 [3], so it was certainly used in your period, but the question is whether it was used in central Italy, and, if so, how it was spelled. We have not found any clear central Italian examples of it. However, in late-period Florence we find a number of surnames which follow the same construction: , , , , , and . [4,5] Based on this, it seems plausible that could also have been used in Florence. Without evidence that it actually was, we cannot recommend it as the best re-creation, though. If you'd like to chose a surname which is known to have been used in 15th-century Florence, we recommend the following article: "Family Names Appearing in the Catasto of 1427" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/family_names.html The surnames in this list have been truncated to 11 characters; if you pick a surname which is 11 characters, then please write us again so that we can tell you whether or not it's one of the truncated ones. Additionally, prepositions such as and have been unseparated, so that really represents . If you have any questions about the correct representation of the surname you've chosen, please don't hesitate to write us again. We hope that this letter has been useful to you. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Maridonna Benvenuti and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 11 May 2007 -- References: [1] Lucrezia Tornabuoni _Lettere_, a cura di Patrizia Salvadori, Firenze, Leo S. Olschki, Editore, MCMXCIII. [2] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei cognomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978), s.n. Gentile. [3] Faraglia, N.F. "1800 Surnames Recorded in 1447" (WWW: Abruzzoheritage.com, 2002) http://www.abruzzoheritage.com/magazine/2002_06/d.htm [4] Herlihy, David, R. Burr Litchfield, and Anthony Molho, "Florentine Renaissance Resources: Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532" (WWW: Brown University, Providence, RI, 2000). http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/tratte/ [5] Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW: Self-published, 1996; Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/