ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3331 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3331 ************************************ 27 Jul 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if , which you believe is the Italian word for 'sapphire', was used as a given name in medieval Italy, and if not, if we could recommend names appropriate for a woman living in Florence. Here is what we have found. The Italian word for sapphire is , not or . In modern Italian is used as both a masculine and a feminine name, and as a masculine it is found most commonly in Lombardy. In the Veneto, the form is used as a feminine name. [1] However, we do not know when either form first came into use. We did find a Sicilian woman recorded as after 1299, but we cannot tell from the context whether this is her given name or her byname. [2] However, even if was the given name of the Sicilian woman, this would not give us evidence for the name in Florence. It's not impossible that some form of was used as a given name in medieval Florence, but without clear evidence that it was, we cannot recommend it as good re-creation. Since you said you were looking for a name which would be appropriate for a woman in Florence, we've given below a list of feminine names beginning with or that are found in Florence in 1427 (we've grouped variants of the same name together): [3] Salvaggia, Salvagia, Selvaggia Salvatica Salvestra Sandra Santa Sapia, Sappia, Savia Scatta Simona Smeralda Solia Spinetta Stefana Stella Zanobia, Zenobia Zebaina Zita Other names not beginning with or can also be found in source [3]. 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, Coblaith Mhuimhneach, Talan Gwynek, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 27 July 2007 -- References: [1] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei nomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992), s.n. Zaffiro. [2] Caracausi, Girolamo, _Dizionario Onomastico della Sicilia_ (Palermo, 1994), s.n. Zaffiro. [3] 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/