Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 744

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 744

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/744

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on the name "Zsofia," which you wanted to use as a Hungarian name from 1211.

As it happens, Talan is a member of the Academy, and he remembers loaning you the book. We can add some more information to what he gave you.

It's very difficult to say much about Hungarian women's names from your period--we have found only 12 examples of Hungarian women's names from before 1500. We do know that "Zsofia" is a modern spelling of the name, and that the most common form from the 1500's was "Sophia." Since "Sophia" was a common name in Hungarian in the 1500's, and was common in many other areas, we think it's likely that "Sophia" is a reasonable name for a 13th-century Hungarian woman. (1)

As for your byname, our best evidence shows that before 1300, Hungarians only used one name. (1) Thus the most likely period name for your persona would be simply "Sophia." However, in order to register your name with the SCA College of Arms, you need to have two elements in your name. If you want to have a second name (or "byname") so that you can register it, we were able to find some suggestions.

The most common bynames were based on the name of a person's father. You could choose a Hungarian man's name and use it as your patronymic. Names which referred to personal qualities of the person who had them were uncommon, but we do have some examples which relate to suggestions you made.

The word "túz" or "fire" gave root to a name which means "fiery" or "passionate." Examples from period include Tuzes, Tyzes, Thyzes, Thy:zes, Thwzes.

There are also a number of spellings for "strong" used as a byname. The most common spellings in period are: Erews, Eres, Erws; though some less common spellings occur: Ervz, Erees, Erus, Ero:s. (2)

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

Walraven van Nijmege, Arval Benicouer, and Talan Gwynek contributed to this letter.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Kalman Bela. The World of Names: A Study in Hungarian Onomatology. Akedemiai Kiado: Budapest, Hungary, 1978.

(2) Kázmér Miklós. "Régi Magyar Családnevek Szótára: XIV-XVII Század" Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, Budapest, 1993.