ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3358
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3358
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From: Coblaith Mhuimhneach 
7 Oct 2008

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for assistance constructing a mid-15th-century Hungarian name 
using the given name <Miklos> and a patronymic derived from some form 
of <Michael>.

<Miklos> is an Hungarian version of <Nicholas>. [1]  Census records 
indicate it was one of the most common men's names in your chosen 
period.  At that time, it was usually spelled <Myklos>. [2,3]  We 
believe it was pronounced roughly \MEEK-loash\.

Patronymics in Hungary were most commonly unmarked in your period.  
That is to say, they consisted simply of the father's name, with its 
spelling unchanged. [4]  Documented 15th-century spellings for the 
Hungarian form of <Michael> that could be used in this fashion include 
<Myhaly>, which was recorded in 1478, and <Myhal>, which is found in 
1493. [3]  The pronunciation for both of these would approximate 
\MEE-hey\.  (Here and elsewhere in this letter, \ey\ represents the 
sound of "ey" in the word "eye").

Marked patronymics were less commonly used, but we can document several 
derived from variants of <Michael>, including the following [3]:

    <Myhalfy> - 1478, 1483, 1493, 1494
    <Myhalffy> - 1476, 1490
    <Mihalfy> - 1489, 1495
    <Mihalffy> - 1408
    <Myhalphy> - 1487
    <Michalfj> - 1469
    <Mijhalfij> - 1492

These are all variant spellings for the same name, which sounds 
something like \MEE-hey-fee\.

When Hungarian names are written in Hungarian, the surname precedes the 
given name, so whichever patronymic you choose should precede <Myklos> 
in your completed name, as in <Myhaly Myklos> and <Myhalffy Myklos>.  
If you wish to write your given name first, you could write your name 
in Latin (which was often used in Hungarian documents in your period).  
In this case, the proper form of the given name would be <Nicolaus>. 
[5]  Cumulative observations by members of the Academy indicate the 
spelling of the patronymic would not be affected, so something like 
<Nicolaus Myhaly> or <Nicolaus Myhalffy> would be appropriate.

I hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part 
of it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted 
in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 
Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Maridonna 
Benvenuti, and Ursula Georges.


For the Academy,

Coblaith Mhuimhneach
07 October 2008

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References

[1] Hadju/, Miha/ly. _Magyar-Angol, Angol-Magyar Keresztne/vszo/ta/r._ 
Budapest : ELTE Magyar Nyelve/szeti Tansze/kcsoport Ne/vkutato/ 
Munkako:zo:sse/ge, 1983; s.n. <Miha/ly>, <Miha/lyfi>

[2] Ka/lma/n, Bela. _The World of Names: A Study in Hungarian 
Onomatology._ Budapest : Akade/miai Kiado/, 1978.

[3] Ka/zme/r, Miklo/s. _Re/gi Magyar Csala/dnevek Szo/ta/ra/: XIV-XVII 
Sza/zad_. Budapest : Magyar Nyelvtudoma/nyi Ta/rsasa/g, 1993.

[4] Walraven van Nijmegen, "Hungarian Names 101" (WWW: Brian R. Speer, 
Privately published, 1998). 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/magyarnames101.html

[5] Kolosvari Arpadne Julia: "And the Last Shall Be First: The 
connection between language and name order in Hungarian names" (in: 
Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, York, PA: 2004); p. 21.