ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 431 http://www.s-gabriel.org/431 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 19 Jun 1997 From: Arval Benicoeur Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of several Italian names and how appropriate they would be for your 12th century persona. Here is what we have found. We do not have any sources on 12th century Italian names, but we have enough related sources that we feel that we can give you a good recommendation. The name "Clara" derives from an identical Latin name, widely used in Western Europe. It was recorded in France in 800 and 940 [5] and in England in 1210 [6]. It's great popularity in Italy derived from the cult of Saint Clare, who died in 1253, and by 1296 it was the most common woman's name in a census of Perugia [1]. We think that it is almost certain that the name was in use in your period, though it was probably not so common as it became a century later. "Regina" is probably correct for your period. It was used as a given name in the late Roman Empire, and probably continued in use through to modern times [2]. Our sources on Italian names are pretty limited, but even though we could not find an example of the name in use in your period, we are fairly confident that it is a good choice. Note that the name is also the Latin word for "queen". The College of Arms will register names which were also titles, but only if the submitted name as a whole does not imply rank or title. You can register "Regina Sebastiani", but not "Regina de Siena", since the latter name could be misunderstood to mean "Queen of Siena". "Josephine" is a French name. In Italian, the equivalent name is "Giuseppina", which is a diminutive of "Giuseppa", the feminine of "Giuseppe". "Giuseppe" was used in Italy from the 11th century onward, but apparently was not very common until late in our period; Saint Joseph was not one of the more popular saints in medieval Europe. The feminine form "Giuseppa" was almost certainly used, and the diminutive "Giuseppina" is plausible for your period. However, one of our sources notes that the modern popularity of "Giuseppina" derives from Napoleon's Empress Josephine [3]. "Mirella" is not a period name, as far as we can determine. Our best guess is that it is an Italian form of the French name "Mireille", which seems to have been invented in 1861 by the French poet Frederic Mistral [4]. If you choose one of these four names, we recommend "Clara" as the best choice for your period. "Regina" is a good choice and "Giuseppina" is reasonable, though not quite as good. We recommend that you avoid "Mirella". In your period, people used single given names. An upper-class woman would most often have been known as her father's daughter, e.g. Clara Giacomi. I hope this letter has been helpful. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur References [1] Alberto Grohmann in L'Imposizione Diretta nei Comuni della'Italia Centrale nel XII Secolo: La Libra di Perugia del 1285 (Paris, Torino: Ecle Francaise de Rome, 1986). [2] De Felice, Emidio, Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978. [3] De Felice, Emidio. Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani. Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992. (Entries for , .) [4] Dauzat, Albert, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, Libraire Larousse, Paris, 1987. [5] Morlet, Marie-Therese, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972) [6] Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press)