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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for information on the name <Chimene>. Here is what we have found.
<Chime\ne> is a French form of the Spanish name <Ximena> or <Jimena>, which was pronounced very much like \shee-MAY-na\. ('e\' represents an 'e' with a long accent.) The only example we have found of this name is the same one you did: Pierre Corneille's play "Le Cid", published in 1637, where it is Corneille's spelling of the name of Rodrigo's wife <Ximena> [1]. If this is the origin of the name, then it is not appropriate for a period French persona. We considered the possibility that the name might have been used in an earlier French adaptation of "El Cid", but the best sources we could find do not list any such literary work or any medieval literary character named <Chime\ne> or <Ximena> [2]. We found no other reference to the name in our French resources.
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, Tangwystyl vz. Morgant Glasvryn, and Zenobia Naphtali.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] Louis-Fernand Flutre, Table des noms propres avec toutes leurs
variantes, figurant dans les romans du Moyen Age écrits en franc,ais ou en provenc,al et actuellement publiés ou analysés (Poitiers: Centre d'études supérieures de civilisation médiévale, 1962).
[2] Pierre Corneille, "Le Cid" (WWW: Centre d'Etude et de Recherche en
Informatique du CNAM).