ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 861 http://www.s-gabriel.org/861 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 24 Apr 1998 From: Diana Slivinska Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! Here is the information we found on "Reigal," which you would like to use as a pre-16th century German name. We didn't find "Reigal" exactly in our sources, but we did find the surname "Reigel" or "Reiger," both of which derive from a word meaning "heron". It was probably first used as a descriptive byname for someone with very long legs, and later continued to be used as an inherited surname. Forms of "Reiger" occur during the 13th and 14th centuries: "B. gen. Raiger" 1275; "B. called Raiger," "Willeke Reygher" 1339, and "Ru:del Reiger" or "Reier" 1373. (1) The character "u:" is used here to indicate "u-umlaut," which looks like an English "u" with two dots over it. Under the surname "Reigel," another source refers the reader to "Reiger" and "Reger" but does cite an "Endris Raygel" in 1525. (2) It mentions that the name is from the Middle High German "reiger" or "reigel," meaning "heron." Based on these examples and our knowledge of medieval German, we think that "Reigal" is an unlikely period spelling of this name. We recommend that you use one of the forms we've cited. "Reigel," the closest to your spelling, is a good byname (for a tall or long-legged person) or surname from about 1300 onward. It is pronounced, roughly, \RYE-gl\. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Talan Gwynek, Margaret Makafee, Elisabeth de Rossignol and Arval d'Espas Nord contributed to this letter. In service, Giulietta da Venezia Academy of S. Gabriel (1) Bahlow, Hans, tr. Edda Gentry, Dictionary of German Names, Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993. (2) Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen familiennamen,_Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960.