ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 832 http://www.s-gabriel.org/832 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 21 Apr 1998 Greetings, Here's the information we found "Gaspard," which you wanted to use as a name for an early 14th-century Norman living in Sicily. As it turns out, we don't have a straightforward answer to your question. This is what we know: We don't have much information about Sicilian names, but based on our knowledge of Sicilian history we can make some guesses about what would be appropriate. The Normans ruled Sicily in the 1100s. In the early 1200s the kingdom came under the control of Frederick II of Swabia, the Holy Roman Emperor. His marriage to Constance of Aragon gave Aragon a claim on the island, and Sicily was contested among the Papacy, the French, and the Aragonese between 1282 and 1302, ending with the acceptance by the Papacy of an Aragonese younger son as king of Sicily. The kingdom was re-incorporated with the Aragonese crown in 1377. (1,2) Thus, by the early 1300s the Normans were a fairly distant memory, and were mixed in with many other ethnic groups. Some Norman names survived in Sicily, but they were probably not identified as "Norman" within Sicily. "Gaspard," the name you asked about, was apparently not used by the Normans. We have thousands of examples of French names, but we didn't find "Gaspard" until about 1571 in France. (3) We found an English "Jasper" in 1370. (4) These names are forms of "Caspar," the name given to one of the three wise men. The legend of the wise men became especially popular in Germany when the supposed relics of the wise men were placed in Cologne Cathedral in 1172. (5) We know that "Caspar" was used in Germany in the 1400s, but we don't have any earlier examples. Our sources on German and Italian names are limited, so it's rather difficult for us to be sure when and where "Caspar" (or its Italian form "Gaspare") were used. Today, "Gaspare" is more popular in Sicily than in the rest of Italy, but we don't know when this started. Since we don't even know when "Caspar" became popular in Germany, it's difficult to say for sure. We can say that the French form "Gaspard" would not have been used in Sicily; we recommend the Italian "Gaspare." You also asked about a name meaning "from the north." We didn't find any examples of names based on directions (from the north, from the south, and so on). However, we did find many names meaning "from Normandy" and "from France," including: * Normandi, Normanni * Francese, Franzese, Franco, Franceso, Francia (6) * Franzelli, Franzellini, Franzetti, Franzini, Franzani, Franzoni, Franzone, Franzo * La Franca (7) The third list of names, spelled with , are more common in Southern Italy, and is found in Sicily. (7) Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek contributed to this letter. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. In service, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel (1) "Frederick II" Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/218/73.html [Accessed 30 March 1998] (2) "Spain: History: ARAGON, CATALONIA, AND VALENCIA, 1276-1479" Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5005/95/57.html [Accessed 30 March 1998]. (3) "Charles IX" Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/117/49.html [Accessed 30 March 1998] (4) Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). (5) _Butler's Lives of the Saints_, Herbert J. Thurston and Donald Attwater eds. (New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1958). (6) Fucilla, Joseph G., _Our Italian Surnames_ (Evanston, IL: Chandlers' Inc., 1949). (7) De Felice, Emidio, Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978).