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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for our opinion of the names "Raimond le Montalbanais" and "Ramons lo Montalbes" in 12th century Langue d'Oil and Langue d'Oc. Here's what we've found.
Our sources include a variety of forms of "Raymond" in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries in various parts of the Langue d'Oil:
Raeimundus 1061-65 [5]
Raimundus 1166 (in England) [6]
Raimund 1207 (in England) [6]
Reymundi 1207 (in England, Latin genitive form) [6]
Raimond, Raimund [7]
Remont, Remon (Paris 1292) [1]
Remont (Champagne c.1300, nominative form "Remons") [2]
For the Langue d'Oc, our sources are not so extensive. Several forms of the name appear in 12th and 13th century works of the troubadours. The most common is "Raimon"; others include "Ramon", "Raymon", and the diminutive "Raimondet" [3]. Across the Pyrenees in Iberia, the name appears as "Raimundus" and "Reimon" in the 12th century [8]. Spanish and Occitan name forms were often similar.
In Old French, all nouns have two grammatical forms, called the "nominative" and "oblique" cases. The nominative case is used when the name appears in the subject of a sentence ("Ramon fights") or when the person is addressed directly ("Hey, Ramon!"). The oblique case is used nearly all other circumstances, including when the name is placed in the predicate of a sentence ("I fought Ramon") or when it is the object of a preposition ("Send this letter to Ramon"). The case of the name determines the case of _all_ words in the name. We will give you the appropriate forms of your name; if you are interested in learning more about Old French grammar, we recommend reference [9] in the list below.
In Langue d'Oil, the masculine singular form of the definite article is "li" in the nominative case and "le" in the oblique case [9]. In Langue d'Oc, according to examples in your own article, "lo" is used in both cases.
The modern place name "Montauban" in Drome is recorded in 1267 as "Monte Albano". Montauban in Somme (in the Langue d'Oil) was "Montauban" in 1186. Montauban in Haute-Garonne (in the Langue d'Oc) was recorded as "Montalba" in 1144 [4]. The adjective form in Langue d'Oil is "Montaubaneis", formed by analogy to the standard Old French words "Daneis" (Danish), "Franceis" (Frankish). We think that "Montalbaneis" would also be correct. In Langue d'Oc, we think the adjective form is "Montalbes", as you suggested. We found several modern forms of ethnic surnames formed according to the same "Urgele\s" [10]. (e\ represents an 'e' with a long accent.)
Based on these citations, we believe that a valid 12th century Langue d'Oil form of your name is "Raimonz li Montaubaneis", and a valid Langue d'Oc form is "Ramons lo Montalbes". These are the nominative case forms; the oblique case forms are "Raimond le Montaubaneis" and "Ramon lo Montalbes", respectively.
If a man from Languedoc moved to Paris, we would expect his name to be recorded by others in a French form rather than an Occitan form. He might continue to use both forms, depending on which language he was speaking.
I hope this letter has been helpful.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris",
Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama).
[2] Jean de Joinville, Histoire de Saint Louis, M. Natalis de Wailly, ed.
(Paris, 1874).
[3] Frank M. Chambers, Proper Names in the Lyrics of the Troubadours
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971).
[4] Dauzat & Rostaing, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la
France. Paris, 1963.
[5] Morlet, Marie-Therese, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de
l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle, v.ii (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972)
[6] Thorvald Forssner, Continental-Germanic Personal Names in England in
Old and Middle English Times (Uppsala: K.W. Appelbergs Boktryckeri, 1916).
[7] P. H. Reaney & R. M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames
(Oxford University Press, 1995).
[8] Piel, Joseph M., and Kremer, Dieter. Hispano-gotisches Namenbuch
(Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universita:tsverlag, 1976).
[9] E. Einhorn, Old French: A Concise Handbook (London & New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1974).
[10] Albert Dauzat, Les Noms de Famille de France (Paris: Librairie
Guenegaud, 1988).