ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 775 http://www.s-gabriel.org/775 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 13 Apr 1998 From: Jodi McMaster Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You wrote and asked about the names "Ramon Diego Santiago de la Luna" and "Ana Marina Santiago de la Luna" as a brother and sister in Spain of the 1400's born of a Spanish father and gitana mother. Since children were ordinarily named after the father's culture during the period, we have only discussed Castilian Spanish names. "Ramon" is a Catalan form of "Raimundo." [1] The name was far more common in the eastern parts of the Iberian peninsula than in Castilian Spain [2]; however, we have found one instance of "Ramon" recorded in either Castile or Leon as early as 1226. [3] In the period of 1477-1504, the name is recorded in a Castilian context as "Ramon," "Ramiro," "Ramonet," "Remero," and "Remon." [4] The other given names you indicate are also found in late period: "Diego" in the 15th [4] and 16th century [5], "Marina" in the 15th [4] and 16th century [6] (although infrequently), and "Ana" in the 15th [4] and 16th century [7]. In late period Spain, double given names occur, but are uncommon. The double given names of "Ramon Diego" and "Marina Ana" appear to be plausible for late period Spain, although more for members of the nobility than for commoners. The byname "Santiago de la Luna" is more troublesome. "Santiago" is a rather rare locative (referring to someone from Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, near Portugal), but we have found examples of it being used in 1282 and 1287 [8]. If you intended the name to mean "of the Moon," then unfortunately we have to tell you that no name with this meaning could possibly have been used in period Spanish. The name "de la Luna" would have been understood as meaning the bearer was from a place called "La Luna," although we have found no evidence of such a place. The locative byname "de Luna" (referring to someone from Luna in Aragon [2] or possibly from a castle in Old Castile [9]) was in use in the 16th century. "Santiago de la Luna" appears to be a compound byname consisting of two locatives (names which indicate a particular place associated with the individual or his/her family). The construction of multiple bynames is fairly complex, which tends to be associated with the high nobility. Since the mother is a gypsy, it is unlikely that either of the siblings would have been members of that level of society, and therefore less likely to use such a complex construction. In Spain during late period times, two locatives were combined as " de " or " y ," but neither construction was as common as just a simple locative; e.g., "de ." When combined with the fact that the names were rare in Castile (as they came from various subcultures on the Iberian peninsula) and with the fact that the persona story you are considering makes it unlikely you would be a member of the high nobility, we would recommend against combining the two locatives. Instead, it would be better recreation to use either "Santiago" or "de Luna." In conclusion, the best alternatives for authentic names are to combine one of the given names and one of the locative bynames, such as "Ramon Santiago" or "Diego de Luna." For your sister, the best choices would be parallel to yours: "Ana Santiago" or "Marina de Luna." 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, Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Talan Gwynek, Blaise de Cormeilles, Justin Greywolf, Alan Fairfax, Charles Stewart O'Connor, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin, and Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja contributed research and/or comments to this letter. For the Academy, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum ___________________ References: [1] Arana de Love, Francisca, _Nombres Proprios Espan~oles_ (Barcelona: Editorial Vosgos, 1982). [2] Sopena, Pascual Marti/nez, ed., _Antroponimia y Sociedad_: Sistemas de identificacio/n hispano-cristianos en los siglos IX a XIII_, Historie y Sociedad no. 46 (Valladolid, Spain: Universiade de Santiago de Compostela and Universidad de Valladolid, 1995). [3] Di/ez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957). [4] Antonio de la Torre and E.A. de la Torre, _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza, Tesorero de Isabel la Catolica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca Reyes Catolicaos, 1956). [5] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Men's Names_ at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/mnames.html [6] Patrick Anderson, private correspondence, December 1997, from baptismal records of Grenada from 1540-1570. [7] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Women's Names_ at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/fnames.html [8] Jos{e'} A. Fern{a'}ndez Fl{o'}rez, _Colecci{o'}n diplom{a'}tica del monasterio de Sahag{u'}n (857-1300): Volume V (1200-1300)_, Centro de estudios e investigaci{o'}n San Isidoro, Caja Espa{n~}a de inversiones, Caja de ahorros y Monte de Piedad, 1994. [9] Richard Fletcher, _The Quest for El Cid_ (New York: Oxford University Press: 1989)