Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 551

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 551

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

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked about the name <Juston of the Marsh>. The basic style of the name is most characteristic of medieval England, so we have considered it in that context.

The Latin name <Justinus> occurs sporadically in medieval English records. In most cases it is a Latinization of the Old Norse name <Iosteinn> or the Old Danish <Justen>, but there is reason to believe that it sometimes represents the name <Justin>. [2] The name was evidently rare, and our only examples are of the Latinized form <Justinus>, but we think it very likely that <Justin> was occasionally used in England during the Middle Ages. We found no support for the spelling <Juston>, however.

Medieval bynames signifying residence near a marsh are well attested, and the basic idea behind <of the Marsh> is very authentic. However, <Marsh> is a modern spelling, and the medieval examples use different prepositions. Here are some dated versions of the byname as it was actually used [1, 2]:

de la Merse 1194
del Merse 1212
ate Mershe 1273
in le Merse 1273
atte Mersche 1296
del Mersch 1379

Here <ate> and <atte> are pronounced \AHT-teh\ and mean 'at the'.

Someone named <Justin> or <Justen> who lived by a marsh might have appeared in records as <Justinus del Merse>, <Justinus atte Mersche>, etc. He would probably have been called something like <Justin atte

Mersche>. In the 14th century, when records were less thoroughly
Latinized, his given name might even have appeared in the records as <Justin> or <Justyn>. Any combination of <Justinus>, <Justin>, or <Justyn> with an attested form of the byname would be suitable for a 13th or 14th century English persona.

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been helpful and that we can continue to assist you if you have further questions.

For the Academy,

Talan Gwynek


[1] Bardsley, Charles Wareing, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967).

[2] Reaney, P.H. & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991).