Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 481

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 481

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/481

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on "Desirata," which you wanted to use as a Romany name from between 1000 and 1400.

As far as we know, the Rom didn't enter England until after 1400. (1) We did find it as an English name which could have been used between 1200 and 1350, but since there were no Rom in England during this period it's not a plausible name. If you wanted an English persona, it would be a reasonable name.

We looked for "Desirata" in countries where the Rom lived before 1400. Although we didn't find it, we're pretty confident that it's a reasonable French name.

"Desiderada" is a Latin name which was used in France. (2) The modern form is "Desiree," and we can hypothesize that there were intermediate forms. Although we don't have evidence for "Desirada," it's a very reasonable guess that it was used.

"Traveller" is so common in the SCA that it's a cliche. Names like "baker" and "smith" describe what a person does for a living, and it's not possible to survive just by traveling. People with personas who wander can usually find names which mean, "mercenary," "merchant," or whatever they actually do. Here are some examples of names which were applied to people whose occupations caused them to travel.

Minstrels: Ménétrel, Ménétrez, Ménétrier; Jougleuz, Jouglet (northern France); Jouglar, Jougla, Joucla (southern France). "é" is an accented "e."

Merchants: Marchand, Marchant, Lemarchand, Marquant, Marcand (these last two are typical of Normandie and Picardie). In French, merchants were very commonly bynamed according to the name of their product. A dealer in pepper ("peivre" in medieval French) might be "Peivrier", for example. Anything that was traded could have become a surname in this manner.

Sailors: Marinier, Navier, de la Nef

Pilgrim: Pélerin, Romier, Romieu, Romeu (the last two from the south). The last three mean someone who has gone to Rome. (3)

If you would like a name with a different meaning, let us know and we can offer other suggestions.

Arval Benicouer, Talan Gwynek, and Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Research by Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn

(2) Morlet, M. "Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de L'Ancienne Gaule du VI au XII Siecle."

(3) Dauzat, A. "Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prénoms de France"