ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3322 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3322 ************************************ 22 Aug 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked if we could recommend authentic medieval Spanish bynames meaning 'rabbit' or 'hare' that are appropriate for a woman. Here is what we have found. Throughout the medieval period, there were several languages spoken in Iberia. By the fourteenth century, the major ones were Portuguese in the west and northwest, Castilian in the north and center, Catalan in the east, Basque in some part of the northeast, and Mozarabic in the south. Arabic was a language of culture and government in Muslim- ruled regions. Different languages often used different spellings and sometimes had different name pools, so where you place your persona will affect what names are authentic. We found examples of bynames based on words for rabbits or hares in both Castilian and Catalan. The Castilian word for 'hare' is , and the word for 'rabbit' is . We find two examples of the byname in 1428 and 1252 [1], and in 1538 we find a man named (where the / represents an acute accent over the previous letter). [2] We also found the byname , which is a derivative of and means 'warrener, keeper/breeder of rabbits', in Valencia in 1510. Valencia is actually in the Catalan-speaking region of Spain, and in the same records from 1510 we find an example of the byname , [3] which derives from the Catalan word for 'rabbit', . Based on this, we recommend that you place your persona either in the Castilian- or the Catalan-speaking regions of Spain, and either in the 13th or the 16th century. For given names which would be authentic for these times and places, we recommend the following articles: "A Partial List of Leonese and Castilian Given Names 1050-1200" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/diego/reilly.html "16th Century Spanish Names" (for Castilian names) http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/heraldry/spanish16/ "Catalan Names from the 1510 census of Valencia" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/spanish/valencia1510.html 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 you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Elsbeth Anne Roth, Talan Gwynek, Aine Steele, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 22 August 2007 -- References: [1] Di/ez Melco/n, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), p. 274 [2] Bermu/dez Plata, Don Cristo/bal, _Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias, Siglos XVI, XVII, y XVIII_ (Sevilla: Imprenta de la Gavidia, 1946), vol. II, entry 4171. [3] Uckelman, Sara L., "Catalan Names from the 1510 census of Valencia" (WWW: Self-published, 2005-2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/spanish/valencia1510.htm