Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 594

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 594

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/594

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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for our opinion of "Roget Luc Besson" as a 14th century French name. Here is what we have found.

I'm assuming that you are most interested in the given name "Roget" rather than "Rogatien". We have documented "Roget" as a reasonable name for your period and we have found no information about "Rogatien". I think it is unlikely that "Rogatien" derives from any form of "Roger"; it looks more like the adjective form of a place name. And just for the sake of completeness, "Rogi" is not likely to have been used in French as a form of "Roger". Pet-names in medieval French were formed by adding a suffix like -et, -on, or -el to the stressed syllable of the name: Rogier, Roget; Richard, Chardon.

"Roget" is a period pet-name derived from the standard Old French forms "Rogier" (common in northern France) and "Roger" (common in southern France). "Roget" is recorded in England in 1279 [1], and gave rise to a modern French surname [2]. The use of "-et" as a diminutive ending in French names was common throughout France at least as early as the 13th century and persisted to the end of our period. We therefore think it very likely that "Roget" was in use in France in your period.

"Luc" is a second given name. Double given names were rare in most of France until quite late in our period. They were used in southern France -- Provence -- as early as the 13th century [3], so if you want to set your persona in that region, then a double given name is reasonable.

"Besson" derives from a word for "twin" in Old French [2]. We believe it is quite appropriate for your period, especially if your persona was one of a pair of twins.

In summary, if you set your persona in 14th century northern France, then "Roget Besson" is a fine name. If you prefer southern France, then you could use "Roget Besson" or "Roger-Luc Besson". Based on the examples I've seen, I think it is unlikely that a pet-name would have been used as the first element in a double given name in your period, which is why I suggest "Roger-Luc" rather than "Roget-Luc".

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 Talan Gwynek, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum, and Margaret Makafee.

For the Academy,

Arval Benicoeur


References

[1] P. H. Reaney & R. M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 1995.

[2] Albert Dauzat, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et

Prenoms de France (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987).

[3] Ramons lo Montalbes, French/Occitan Names from the XII and XIII Century

(WWW: Privately published, 1997).