Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 719

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 719

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/719

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 St. Gabriel!

You asked for assistance in determining whether the given name "Mariasol" existed in period. Here's what we've found.

The name "Mariasol" is a modern Spanish name, a contraction of "Maria del Sol" or "Maria de la Soledad" (which reflects an attribute of the Virgin Mary). [1, 2] Names which reflected attributes of Mary did not come into use until very late in our period. The earliest instance of "Maria de la Soledad" we found was in 1717. [3] We could not find any examples in period of "Mariasol" or any other contractions of names that were attributes of Mary. However, you could use a name similar to the one from which it is contracted: "Maria" with a last name of "de Sola," "Sola," "Soler" or "Solis." [4]

You may also be interested in some of the forms of "Maria" that did exist in period Spain: "Mariana" or "Marina." [4,5]

A possible but unlikely construction is a compound of "Maria" and the old name "Sol." We found a 12th century example of "Sol" as a given name [6], and it continues in use in present-day Spain. It is therefore reasonable to assume that it was in rare use throughout our period. Since double given names are found in some parts of Spain as early as the 11th century [7] it is possible that a Spanish woman could have used the double given name "Maria Sol." But we should stress that we have not found any example of this combination, and at best it would be an exceptionally unusual name for any part of our period in Spain.

You could also adopt an Italian persona. Compound names formed from "Maria-" appear in Italy from the 13th century onward [8], including "Mariadonna" and "Clarastella." [9]. There is no example of "Mariasol," which would not be a correct Italian formation. However, we can postulate the form "Mariasole," "-sole" being Italian for "sun."

Alternatively, you might consider a different Italian name, such as one of the other variants for "Maria," "Mariadonna," (13th century) or a name with a similar sound, e.g.,"Marsilia" (15th century). [9, 10]

Therefore, you may want to consider the name "Maria de Sola," "Maria Sola," "Maria Soler" or "Maria Solis," all of which will give you a given name and a byname. If you have chosen one of the other given names, you will need a byname in the same language and from the same period. Please write us again if you'd like us to help you with choosing one; we'll be glad to help.

We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Arval d'Espas Nord, Talan Gwynek, Elsbeth Ann Roth, Teceangl Bach, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasfryn, Charles O'Connor, Patrick Anderson, and Juliana de Luna contributed the research for this letter.

For the Academy,

AElfwyn aet Gyrwum


[1] Arana de Love, Francisca, _Nombres Proprios Espan~oles_, Editorial Vosgos, Barcelona, 1982.

[2] Richard D. Woods, _Hispanic First Names: A Comprehensive Dictionary of 250 Years of Mexican American Usage_, Greenwood Press, London 1984.

[3] Ramon Menedez-Pidal, "Onomastica inspirada en el culto marianico," 1 Cuadernos del Idioma: Revista de Cultura y Pensamento 9-16 (1965).

[4] Bermúdez Plata, Don Cristóbal, _Catálogo de Pasajeros a Indias_, Sevilla, Spain, Imprenta Editorial de la Gavidia, 1942.

[5] Patrick Anderson, private communication, January 1998.

[6] El Cid, any edition. Online, see

[7] Juliana de Luna, private communication, January 1998; she cites Julio de Atienza, Nobilario Espan~ol, Agular SA de Ediciones, Madrid, 1954, as support for names after the 15th century. The earlier examples come from her research from various primary sources.

[8] Menant, F., "L'Italie Centro-Septentrionale", in Monique Bourin, Jean-Marie-Martin, and Francois Menant, eds., _L'Anthroponymie: Document de l'Histoire Sociale des Mondes Méditerranéens Médiévaux_, Collection de l'E/cole Franc,aise de Rome, 226 (Rome: E/cole Franc,aise de Rome, 1996).

[9] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) at

[10] Rhian Lyth, Italian Renaissance Women's Names (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996) at