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Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel,
We have researched the questions you sent to us concerning the use of Tracie with the naming practices in the late-period Low Countries, specifically Flanders in the 15th century.
The origin of the given name "Tracie" or "Tracy" is unclear. There are two theories: It may have derived from "Theresa" or it may be the surname "Tracy" used as a given name. Regardless of its origin, the given name is not found until the 19th century.
"Theresa" is the English form of "Teresa", which was not found outside the Iberian penninsula until the 16th century when the cult of St. Teresa of Avila spread through the Roman Catholic world [1,2]. The name did not become common in England until the 18th century [1]. In the 19th century we find it in various forms: "Treza", "Treesy", "Treacy" [3]. "Tracy" may be one further step in the evolution of this family of names, but it certainly does not pre-date the 19th century.
The modern popularity of "Tracy" dates from the 1940s, perhaps because of the appearance of Katharine Hepburn as "Tracy Lord" in the movie "The Philadelphia Story" [3].
"Tracy" has also been used as a masculine name in the 19th and 20th centuries, coined from the English surname "Tracy" [3]. If you are interested in further information concerning the French origin of the surname "Tracy", please write back to us.
Although we could not document "Tracy" in period, we did find the similar sounding "Trisse" used in the Low Countries from 1250-1400 as a diminutive form of "Beatrisse"[5], and found the following list of feminine names from the Low Countries in 1376 [6]:
Aghata, Aechte
Agnes, Neeskina, Neysel
Aleydis, Aleyd, Aelent
Beatrix
Bessela
Christina, Cristina, Stina, Styenken
Delye (Delyanna)
Dyerwijf
Eefsa, Eefssa
Elisabeth, Elysabeth, Lysa, Lijsbet, Lysbet, Lysbeth, Lijske
Enggela
Ermgard
Eva
Floris
Gheerburgis
Gertrudis, Gheertrudis, Truda, Trude
Hadewigis
Heylwigis, Heylwiga
Hylla, Hilla, Hyldegondis
Yda, Ida
Johanna
Jutta
Katherina, Katharina
Lucia
Lumoedis
Luta
Margreta, Margareta, Margarita, Met
Mechtildis, Mechteld
Merswindis
Nenneken
Oede
Salome, Saleme, Salomea
Sophia
Zensa
We hope this has been helpful, and will be happy to assist you with further questions.
Zenobia Naphtali, Arval Benicoeur, and Talan Gwynek assisted in the writing of this letter.
In service,
--Walraven van Nijmegen
for the Academy of S. Gabriel
[1] E. G. Withycombe. "The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names"
3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988.
[2] A. Dauzat. "Dictionairre Etymologique de Noms de Familie et Prenoms
de France" Librairie Larousse, Paris, 1987.
[3] L. Dunkling & W. Gosling. "The New American Dictionary of First Names"
Signet Books, New York, 1983.
[4] P. H. Reaney & R. M. Wilson. "A Dictionary of English Surnames".
Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.
[5] Wilfried Beele. "Studie van de Ieperse Persoonsnamen uit de Stads- en
Baljuwsrekeningen 1250-1400". Handzame, 1975.
[6] G. M. Van der Velden. "Het Oudste Cijnregister van de Abdij van
Berne uit 1376". 's-Hertogenbosch, 1982.