Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 711

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 711

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/711

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 Saint Gabriel!

You asked us about the English names <Elissa> and <Elisabeth>:

While we could not find the spellings <Elissa> or <Elisabeth> in English, the name is found in variant forms that come close to your desired spelling of <Elissa>, both in English and Italian. Because <Elizabeth> was a popular woman's name across much of Europe late in our period, there were many variations in spelling recorded, some without the 'z' that you don't like, though it appears that spellings with 's' are more common in continental Europe than in England.

English name sources have <Elysabeth> in 1524, and given that we have <Elizabeth> (with an 'i'), and that shortened forms <Elisota> and <Elizota> exist [3], the spelling <Elisabeth> is quite reasonable.

We also found <Ellice> in 1319, <Elisot(a)> in the 14th c. [1], and the several forms <Elisote>, <Elissota>, <Ellisote> ranging from 1275 to 1379 [2]. The spelling <Elisa> appears to be Italian [4].

You will also need a byname (a last name), since during the time the name <Elizabeth> was in use in England, it was general practice to have one. The most common bynames are patronymic, locative, or occupational. A patronymic byname is one that indicates who your father was (eg <Williams>). A locative indicates where you are from or where you live (eg <atte Hill> or <de London>). An occupational indicates your profession (eg <Fletcher>, "a person who makes arrows").

We hope this has been helpful and would continue to assist you,

Talan Gwynek and Evan da Collaureo contributed to this letter.

In service,
--Walraven van Nijmegen
Academy of S. Gabriel


[1] Talan Gwynek. "Feminine Given Names in "A Dictionary of English

Surnames", 1994
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/reaney/

[2] Andreanna Innes. "An Index of Period Given Names contained in _A

Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ by Charles Bardsley" Privately printed, 1987.

[3] Talan Gwynek. "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379"

http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/yorkshire/

[4] Emidio De Felice Nomi. "Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani"

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992. (p.141)